The Fish Out of Water
by forensicsfan
Summary: The discovery of a set of remains in a strawberry field lead Booth and Brennan to the Pacific Northwest where they begin to deal their feelings for each other as they sift through clues to unravel a disturbing crime.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them.

**Author's Note:** This is a work in progress and I invite you to come along for the ride to the happy ending we know that we'll get to eventually...because everything happens eventually. Right?

* * *

_**Prologue**_

The heat was oppressive, not typical weather for the Puget Sound area at all. Seattle had just set an all time high of 103 degrees, although in the outlying areas, there had been reports of temperatures all the way up to 113. In a region where air conditioning wasn't standard equipment in houses and even some cars, tempers were short and the strawberry fields near the Skagit River were no exception.

Felix Hernandez was working to get the field ready for the second harvest of the season and as much as he was grateful for the work that provided a nice home for his family and food on his table, he would have much rather been sitting inside the Train Wreck Bar knocking back a cold one at the end of his day before heading home to play a little baseball with his son Carlos.

He had been methodically working the field and with the hot sun overhead beating down, he decided that a lunch break was in order - despite the fact that his tractor cab was air conditioned, he was way too hot. There was a nice little grove of trees at the edge of the field near a stream that fed into the river and it seemed to be calling to him. A little bit of lunch and some relaxation and he'd be ready to go back to working until it really was time to call it a day. He had barely taken three steps into the grove when a gruesome sight stopped him in his tracks. He had seen plenty of dead animals in his day - what with the hunting trips he'd taken with his brothers into the back country, but this was no animal. What he was seeing was obviously human and something else and all thoughts of eating lunch were abandoned as he scrambled for his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

* * *

"Bones!" Special Agent Seeley Booth had a purpose and right now that included finding his partner as he strode past the empty platform and straight for her office. He'd called her three times and three times it had gone straight to voicemail, so he wasn't entirely surprised to find her office empty and her cell phone sitting on her desk next to the land line. He turned on his heals and went straight for the office of Camille Saroyan. As much he might normally enjoy a game of hide and seek, he just didn't have the time for it. He poked his head into Cam's office. "Have you seen Bones?"

"Nice to see you too, Seeley." Cam's smirk and slight shake of the head belied her amusement at the way he had gotten straight to the point, sidestepping any small talk.

"Do you know where she is?" Normally he would have called her Camille, which she hated, followed by his own admonishment for her to not call him Seeley. Today he really had a schedule to keep and every minute that ticked by that he did not have his partner in tow mattered.

"Check Limbo." Cam gestured towards the door and as Booth turned and walked away in a hurry, she let out a smile and shook her head, muttering under her breath. "I really do hope that Dr. Brennan wakes up and realizes what a lucky woman she could be."

Brennan was carefully cradling a skull in her hands, taking great care to evaluate the splintering pattern on the frontal bone as Mr. Nigel-Murray looked on with a hint of trepidation on his face. "I believe that you are correct that this was the point of impact. The staining on the interior of the bone suggests that bleeding occurred anti-mortem and therefore is the cause of death." She glanced up at her intern as she gently set the skull down. "Very nice reconstruction job."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan. Did you know that it is generally agreed that the first jigsaw puzzle was produced around 1760 by John Spilsbury, a London engraver and mapmaker?" For some reason he just couldn't stop spouting interesting facts when he was nervous.

"I did not know that." Of course she wondered what in the world that had to do with the remains that they had in front of them, but perhaps he had a point that he would eventually get to.

"Bones!" Booth had taken the steps two at a time down into Limbo and he felt relieved when he rounded the corner and found that he didn't have to search the entire labyrinth of bones for Bones.

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here, Booth." Clearly he had some matter of urgency on his mind as she turned towards him and took in his slightly harried appearance. It only then occurred to her that she'd left her cell phone upstairs in her office and might have missed a call.

"We've got a case." He glanced at his watch and felt some measure of relief that he had found her, now he just needed to get her out of Limbo and headed out the door of the lab altogether.

"I'll get my kit and I'll meet you upstairs." She offered him a smile as she pulled off her latex gloves and turned to Mr. Nigel-Murray. "Please place preliminary tissue markers and I'll review them before Angela inputs the measurements into the Angelator. Given the care that he'd taken with reassembling the skull, she wanted to see what his skill level was with placing the markers.

"You're going to need more than just your kit." And it was probably wishful thinking that she might have one upstairs in her office all packed and ready to go so that they wouldn't have to fight through the mid-afternoon traffic to her apartment.

Her head tilted slightly and her lips pulled into a conspiratorial smile. "Are we going undercover?" She very much liked getting to pretend to be someone else. Perhaps they would get to join the circus again, although given Booth's rather recent brain surgery, knife throwing would probably not be a very good choice for an act if she expected to remain uninjured.

Booth let out a slight chuckle. "No, we are not going undercover. We've got to catch a plane." And if they didn't hurry they were going to have to miss that nice non-stop flight from Reagan National and connect in Newark, Chicago, and Denver.

"Where are we going?" Her curiosity was piqued now.

"North of Seattle. Skeleton found in a strawberry field and they're holding the scene for us." He glanced down at his watch. "We've got to get a move on because we have to be at the airport in an hour and half." And that was pushing it. Thankfully, he had swung by his own place on the way to collect Bones and she lived only a short distance from the Jeffersonian, but he still might have to use the sirens and lights to get them to the terminal on time.

"Are you sure they won't compromise the remains before we get there?" Brennan hoped that the local law enforcement was competent enough to not disturb the site.

"We've got a non-stop flight as long as we hurry." He propelled her towards the stairs, she could ask as many questions as she wanted as long as she kept moving so they didn't miss that flight.

A sigh was the only sound left in Limbo as the voices faded away. It was obvious that despite his assignment to place the tissue markers, Dr. Brennan was not going to be able to verify them for a while if she was about to embark on a transcontinental airplane trip. Mr. Nigel-Murray felt a little invisible as he addressed the reconstructed skull. "Did you know that Seattle was the first city in the US to play a Beatles song on the radio?"


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the last call for Alaska Airlines flight number three, non-stop to Seattle." The far too perky voice announced over the intercom that they were just going to make this flight. Booth was thankful that Reagan National was far smaller than Dulles, which meant that it had taken hardly any time at all to reach their gate once they'd gotten through security. Being an FBI agent certainly had advantages and so did having sirens and lights on his SUV. He handed over his boarding pass and his ID with a smile as the gate agent seemed to recognize Bones. Clearly things were going to go smoothly from here on out.

"I see that you'll be joining us in first class today. Enjoy your flight." With the smile that seemed reserved just for first class passengers and New York Times best selling authors, the gate agent waved them through.

Brennan raised an eyebrow at Booth as they walked down the gangway to board the Boeing 737. "How did you manage to get first class? You always seem to be stuck back in coach." A detail that usually had them sitting in different parts of the plane.

"They're holding the crime scene, remember?" He flashed her a smile as he slung his arm across her shoulder. "Besides, on short notice, the cost differential wasn't that much and this was the only non-stop flight left." That was partially true, his recent brain surgery was the bigger reason for it, and the hint of a medical necessity was all he needed to get them bumped up from coach with the Bureau's travel department. He was definitely looking forward to being able to stretch his legs out on this cross-country flight. Local time for their scheduled landing was quarter after eight and that would at least allow them a decent night's sleep before a briefing first thing in the morning. Then they would take the sixty-five mile trek north to the crime scene.

They had hardly settled into their seats when the door to the aircraft was closed and the flight attendants began to prepare for takeoff. Brennan looked over at her partner "Are you sure that my equipment will be there when we arrive?" She had to leave it up to Cam to arrange for the field equipment she'd need in the field to be shipped to the hotel they'd be staying at near the crime scene. Due to their last minute departure, she hadn't been able to double check the list and so she had some concerns that someone would leave a key piece of equipment out. At least she had her laptop, she could probably coordinate anything that they hadn't anticipated over a video conference as backup.

"Don't worry about it, Bones. I'm sure that Cam has it handled." And with the number of times that Bones had reminded her of what she needed, he was sure that nothing was going to be left out. That had been one of the reasons he hadn't been so sure that they would make it to the airport on time. In fact with all of the flurry of activity over the last couple of hours he was starting to get a headache and he fumbled in the bag under his seat for the bottle of pain medication that the doctor had given him to stave it off.

Brennan was immediately concerned. "Are you feeling okay, Booth?" Clearly he wasn't if he was using medication. He'd been cleared for active duty shortly after she'd returned from a six-week dig in Guatemala, but this was the first case they'd had that required them to travel out of town.

"Just being proactive." He did not want to let a headache get out of hand when they had a case that was going to need their attention.

She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. "Are you sure that you're up to this?" Her eyes caught his for a moment.

"I'm fine, Bones. I'm just making sure I'm in tip-top shape so we can get the bad guys, okay?" He fought the urge to just lean over and kiss her and instead popped the pill without the benefit of anything to chase it down with. He was sure that he could get lost in her blue eyes and he really wasn't sure that she was open to that. There were times like this since his surgery that the line between what he'd imagined they were and what reality was started to blur a little, and at least part of him wondered if he was supposed to be fighting his feelings in the first place.

She squeezed his arm and smiled before settling back into her seat for take-off. "I'm your partner. Remember that. I'm here for you." She'd sat by his side for four days until he'd woken up and then she'd spent several more days after that at the hospital until he'd been discharged. She'd left for Guatemala shortly after that when she'd been assured that he'd make a complete recovery.

"I know you are." He smiled, he couldn't help but be thankful for her, but he also felt a pang of longing for much more with her and he inwardly sighed as he again considered that unless something drastically changed between them that it was going to remain nothing more than a tortured dream for him.

"I'm your friend too, you know." Her tone was soft as she glanced over. She cared for him far more than she was comfortable admitting even to herself. If something happened to Booth, well, she'd already almost lost him and she really didn't want to entertain the possibility.

"One of the best." Booth grinned at her, oh, how he wanted to kiss her. He was just going to have to enjoy all of the perks of first class instead.

"If you head hurts, maybe you should try and sleep." It was logical that rest would only benefit him.

"I might just do that, Bones, I might just do that." He leaned his head back a little and closed his eyes. "Right after takeoff that is."

* * *

They were several hours into the flight and Brennan was typing away on her laptop in an attempt to work on her latest book. And it seemed to only be an attempt because Booth head had taken up residence on her shoulder and he was mumbling in his sleep. Clearly his medication had some side effects.

"You smell pretty." Life couldn't be better, he was holding the most beautiful woman in the world and she was in love with him. All of his worlds had melded into a single one and everything had worked out eventually. In fact eventually was pretty darn amazing. "So nice and pretty."

Brennan quirked an eyebrow and tried to ignore him, but focusing on Andy and Kathy proved to be difficult when her own FBI partner was caressing her arm as he clung to it.

"You're gonna be the best mom ever." He just wanted to kiss her. Why were things so blury? Where did her face go?

The thought occurred to her that she ought to wake him up. What if he was hallucinating again? Did his doctor even consider what the effects of being at 35,000 feet would have on him? He was cleared to work, but did that mean he was cleared to fly as well?

"Love you so much." Funny, even though he kept trying to close his eyes, he could still see. Oooh, wave that hand in front of his face.

Yes, she definitely needed to wake him up before he said anything else embarrassing. She leaned over and whispered. "Booth."

"Bren? Bones?" The voice was familiar, but he wasn't sure which one of them he was hearing.

"Booth." Her whisper was much louder this time, but she didn't want to be too loud, but she also didn't want him disturbing the other passengers.

His eyes blinked open. He was a little hazy as to where he was for a moment and then as he glanced over and saw her, he smiled. "Bren." He leaned in and mumbled against her lips, a little confused as to why something suddenly felt a bit off as he kissed her. Right, she wasn't really kissing him back. Oh, hell, he was in a shit load of trouble. "Bones."

Brennan's cheeks tinged pink. "Your medication, you were dreaming." That was a purely logical explanation. This was Booth and Booth did not kiss her like it was the most normal thing in the world. Not even if she wished that it were.

"Medicine. Yeah, of course." He wasn't sure if he should apologize, he sure as hell didn't want to. What he really wanted to do was lean right back and kiss her so she'd knew it had absolutely nothing to do with any damn medication.

"You were talking in your sleep." She licked her lips unconsciously and she wondered if he talked in his sleep when he wasn't medicated.

He couldn't resist the conspiratorial tone as he smirked. "Did I say anything good?"


	3. Chapter 3

"You were under the influence of medication, Booth." Brennan did not want to delve into what he'd said in his sleep, she simply wanted a confusion-free flight and his kiss had done nothing to help that at all.

"Did I say anything embarrassing?" Most of all, Booth wanted to know if what he'd been dreaming had been a little too clear to his partner.

"Embarrassment is subjective." She offered a smile that belied the flurry of feelings she was trying very hard to compartmentalize. And since that didn't seem to be working, lying was the next best option. "You were mainly unintelligible."

"Oh, well, that's good." He blinked at her and a somewhat relieved smile spread over his face as he settled himself back in his seat. That was good news. Of course, he had clearly called her Bren, that much he was sure of. Right before he kissed her. She knew just enough about his coma dream to pick up that he was probably having a little flashback, but he had conveniently left out some of the more compromising details when he'd filled her in during his recovery. Mainly he didn't mention the part about how they were married and she was carrying his child. Or the part about how in love with her he was. How in love with him she was. The corners of his mouth twitched downwards. She was going to ask him about that kiss at some point and he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to tell her why he had done it. Medication could only get him so far.

"We'll be landing in Seattle in a couple of hours." Perhaps if she shifted focus on the case ahead of them this fluttering feeling would pass. Either that or she was suffering some previously undiscovered flight-related illness.

"Well then it's a good thing that's where we need to go." He grinned at her.

* * *

"So are we taking a cab to the hotel?" They had barely gotten off the plane and she was already looking for an opportunity to drive. He had been medicated, so clearly that was a very compelling reason for him to not get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

"No, we're supposed to have someone waiting for us in baggage claim holding one of those signs." He was secretly hoping that they'd be getting picked up in a limo instead of a Bureau vehicle.

"What sign?" She had to dodge around a rather oblivious man who was carrying a large cup of coffee and yammering away on his cell phone to keep up with Booth as they weaved through the crowded airport.

He drew a shape in the air with his finger that vaguely resembled a rectangle as he glanced over at her. "You know, those signs with a name on it that some guy holds in order to find who he's supposed to pick up." Surely she knew what he was talking about.

"Who's name will be on it?" It was a valid question. There were two of them. "And why would you assume that the driver would be a man? Women are excellent drivers."

"I would assume that it has _my_ name on it." He _was_ the FBI agent after all. "And I suppose we'll find out whether our driver is a man or a woman when we find him _or_ her." He rolled his eyes inwardly and sidestepped a woman pushing a set of twins in a stroller.

"Why would you assume that it would have only your name on it? They're expecting me too." She _was_ the forensic anthropologist. Not to diminish Booth's skill as an investigator, but they _had_ flown across the entire country because of what _she_ brought to the case. They wouldn't even be here if she wasn't at the top of her field and her expertise wasn't needed.

"_I_ work for the _FBI_, and we're being picked up by an _FBI_ agent." It wasn't that hard to figure out, so why was she making it so complicated? He was just glad that they had finally landed. There had been a few more awkward moments after his accidental kiss thanks to a couple of nosey passengers and an overzealous flight attendant, and he needed to breath some fresh air and spend some time in a room alone so he could remind himself exactly who he was and what he was doing here.

"Oh, that makes some sense." She seemed to acquiesce momentarily only to launch into her diatribe of questions again. "But don't you think that they could put both of our names on the sign?" It would be equal that way and they _were_ partners.

Booth rolled his eyes. "Bones, the sign will say what the sign says. Okay?" She could be so exasperating, and since he couldn't kiss her again to shut her up, he was just going to have to deal with her some other way. At the moment, his legs were giving him the advantage of having a longer stride to stay just that much ahead of her.

"Are we going to get to the crime scene tonight?" Their flight had landed right on time, but by the time they gathered their luggage it was going to be very late and the sun was setting rather quickly. However, she was anxious to get there and assess the situation as soon as possible.

"No, we're getting a hotel in Seattle tonight and we'll head up there first thing in the morning." He let out a soft chuckle as he fully expected her next sentence.

"Are you sure the crime scene is secure?" She'd matched his stride with very little effort as they continued to weave through the crowd. Her primary concern was getting to the scene to make sure that nothing more had been disturbed.

"They've got a couple of deputies out there guarding it and they know we won't be there until tomorrow morning." If she was already being this feisty, he might just have to fein medication again and just go ahead and kiss her. Although, on second thought, he was a little too fond of his manly parts to try it with such a flimsy excuse.

"Will my equipment be there when we get there?" If they were getting that much of a late start at the scene, she wanted to make sure that they were properly equipped to whack the ground speeding when they arrived.

Booth stopped suddenly and reached out and grabbed her arm and looked directly into her eyes. "What's with the twenty questions, Bones? The equipment is on the way. From what I understand, it's going to be there when we get there." He studied her for a brief second and wondered for the first time if her myriad of questions had more to do with that kiss than her actual need for answers. She actually seemed a little flustered.

She hesitated for just a second, which in Bones' time was almost as good as standing there with her mouth gaping open. "I just want to be prepared. I wasn't able to give the oversight I would have normally and I want to make sure that I have everything."

"Cam has it under control." Booth smirked. "And I'm sure that she would probably err on the side of sending you too much equipment rather than not enough." This wasn't really about equipment and he could tell, but as long as she wanted to stand behind that smoke screen of denial, he was going to let her. Well at least for a little while anyway. He lived by trusting his gut and right now his gut was telling him that Bones was more than a little affected by that kiss and he was going to have to give it a little time until he could sniff out whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Why would she send too much? That isn't very logical." Clearly too much would be a waste of resources and Cam was nothing if not efficient at running the lab, a fact that she was slowing coming around to admit.

Booth slung his arm over her shoulder as they neared the the escalators to baggage claim. "I'm just saying, Bones, she's got your back."

"I though you had my back." Brennan glanced over at him quizzically as he paused at the top of the escalator to let her go first. "She's not my partner, you are." She looked over her shoulder at him as he stepped on after her.

"We _both_ have your back. Okay?" He shook his head in amusement at the irrationality of the ever rational Dr. Temperance Brennan as the escalator slowly descended into baggage claim where a very obvious FBI agent stood with a sign in his hand looking for _'Booth'_.


	4. Chapter 4

Agent Darnell Sims had filled them in on what he knew about the case on the way to the hotel. "The local sheriff called us in because the body seemed small and with the amount of missing persons cases involving children, they thought that the good doctor there would be able to make that determination for sure." Missing children fell under the jurisdiction of the FBI, but that didn't mean that finding a small body made any of the agents very excited about that fact.

"They haven't disturbed the remains have they?" Brennan seemed very concerned that she was going to encounter a compromised crime scene and some key piece of evidence might be destroyed. Having to wait until morning to head north to the scene was still something she thought was unnecessary. Surely they would get an earlier start if they actually stayed at a hotel near the crime scene.

"They've been maintaining the perimeter with strict instructions not to touch a thing." Agent Sims seemed to be mildly amused at Dr. Brennan's comment.

"How small is the body?" Booth hated cases that involved kids. It made him thankful that his own son was safe at home and he felt a sudden pang that he wished he'd had time to stop by and give Parker a hug before he'd had to leave for Seattle.

"Small enough that they aren't sure if it's an adolescent or an adult." Sims expertly steered the vehicle through the traffic near the airport and made his way north into the city. He was simply dropping them off at the hotel where he was leaving them with the SUV and he was being picked up by his wife since the hotel wasn't too far away from where he lived. They'd meet up with another agent once they arrived in Mount Vernon.

The sun was beginning to set and the skyline was twinkling with the lights from the skyscrapers as they passed by the SODO district with Safeco and Quest Fields. The former had the lights on meaning that the Mariners had a home game in full swing and the latter was dark because the Seahawks season hadn't started yet and the Sounders were on the road. Off in the distance the light on the top of the Space Needle blinked like a beacon at the foot of Queen Anne hill. Freeway traffic was steady even at this time of night going north, but the city had long since emptied out its office buildings, so they weren't stuck in the endless stop and go traffic that characterized a Seattle rush hour. And that rush hour was precisely the reason that they bypassed all of the downtown hotels and headed to the north end of Seattle, ending up at a hotel in the University District that leaned more towards boutique and less towards Holiday Inn.

"This is better than the sort of hotel my per diem usually covers." Booth was impressed - clearly the travel department had taken pity on him here too. Not that he was one to milk brain surgery, but if people wanted to give him upgrades, he certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Great rates." Agent Sims shrugged his shoulders. This was one of the nicer hotels in this area of town, but he supposed that the rates were due in part to trying to stay competitive with the other hotels nearby.

"About how long of a drive is it to the crime scene?" Brennan rolled her eyes as Booth grabbed her suitcase out of the SUV for her before she could do it herself.

"It'll take you a good solid hour or more." Sims jerked his thumb towards the freeway noise in the distance. "All depends on summer road construction delays. At least you don't have to fight most of the commuter traffic being north of the city. Most everyone is going the other way."

"That's not bad." She considered that if it was only an hour that maybe they should make the drive tonight. That way they could get an extra early start.

"Don't even say it, Bones." Booth knew what she was thinking and although he'd gotten some sleep on the plane thanks to his pain medication, this was one of those times that he was going to play the brain surgery card to get his way.

"What? I was simply going to mention that it's only nine o'clock." Once glance at him and she could tell that she wasn't going to win. He looked tired and clearly needed to get some sleep in a real bed.

"It's essentially midnight." His body was on East Coast time and she was already laying claim to the Pacific time zone.

"I'll leave you folks to figure this out." Agent Sims handed Booth the keys to the SUV. "Touch base with me if you need anything once you get up there and I'll make sure you get it."

"Thanks." Booth nodded as the other agent walked towards a waiting car. He felt a dull throbbing in his temple and he was very thankful that all they had to do the rest of the night was check into their rooms and go to sleep.

Brennan's brow furrowed with concern as she notice Booth rubbing his temple. "Are you feeling okay?" She wondered not for the first time if this trip was too much for him and she completely pushed any thought of talking him into traveling north before morning out of her mind.

"It's late." He smiled at her and felt a pang that he was missing something with her that he wasn't sure he'd ever really have.

They walked together into the hotel and as they approached the check in desk, a smiling woman who couldn't have been more than twenty greeted them. "Welcome to Hotel Deca."

"We've got a reservation for two rooms under Booth." He was sure that the travel department had taken care of all of the details and all he needed to do was take one of his pain pills and check himself into bed.

A few clicks of her mouse had the young woman frowning. "I have reservations for _one_ room under the name Booth." She glanced up hopeful that she'd misheard the number two.

"What about under the name Brennan?" Surely the FBI travel bureau knew she was accompanying Booth - they had taken care of her airline ticket after all.

Several more clicks and another frown as she glanced up. "I'm sorry, there's just the one room under Booth." She could feel a storm of ill will starting to brew on the other side of that counter and and she quickly did a mental scramble on how she was going to avert disaster.

Booth massaged his temple.

Brennan quickly interjected. "Well then I'll just need another room." Simple resolution, she was what they referred to as loaded and she didn't see a problem.

The young woman by now looked a little wide-eyed. "Ms. Brennan, I'm sorry, but we only have the one room."

She felt compelled to make a minor correction. "It's _Doctor_ Brennan, I'm a forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian Institute and this is my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI." Perhaps if she emphasized the importance of what they were here for she'd be able to find an extra room.

"Bones, we don't need to be so formal." Booth whispered a little too loudly and then turned his attention to the woman whose name tag seemed to scream that her name was Meagan and flashed a smile at her. "Look, Meagan, we just want to get some sleep before we have to go look at a dead body in the morning, so if you could just help us out here, I'd really appreciate it."

Meagan flinched a smile. "I'm sorry, I still only have the one room." She let out a nervous laugh. "There's some sort of big research symposium or something in town and all of the hotels near the University are full."

Brennan momentarily forgot about the room situation. "What kind of research?"

"Bones." Booth rolled his eyes inwardly. Of course anything squinty would catch her attention.

She glanced over at him with a smirk. "What? I was simply inquiring as to the nature of the symposium. I wasn't suggesting that I leave the investigation to attend." Although, if they wrapped the case up quickly and the research topic was interesting she could certainly request a copy of the proceedings.

A realization dawned on Meagan as she suddenly recognized Dr. Brennan as the author of her favorite series of novels and she quickly made a few more clicks and glanced back up. "The room _is_ a double though. Two beds." She smiled hoping that this minor concession would make them happy enough to just take it. And she wondered to herself if _this_ was the man that was the embodiment of Andy Ryan in Dr. Brennan's books, then why in the world did they _want_ two rooms?


	5. Chapter 5

"Bones, that was a perfectly good hotel back there." There was a decided whine in Booth's voice as he glanced over at his partner who was currently threading the SUV through freeway traffic heading north. He had been looking forward to experiencing the luxury Egyptian cotton sheets that the brochure he pilfered from the lobby had boasted about. He hadn't even gotten a chance to see the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom or the plush robes because Bones hadn't even let them check in.

"With _one_ hotel room." It wasn't that she really would have minded sharing a room with Booth - they'd done so before, albeit undercover. She had just seen this as her opportunity to get closer to the crime scene that much faster and his apparent headache had given her a very plausible reason to be the one to drive. Besides, after his kiss on the plane, she didn't think that sharing a hotel room was a very good idea. Not with the thoughts swirling around in her head that were decidedly unpartner-like in nature. Surely, if they'd been forced to share a room, she wouldn't have been able to compartmentalize enough to be able to get a good night's sleep and if need be, he could take a pain pill and sleep on the drive up.

"With _two_ beds." It wasn't likely that his FBI per diem was going to give him a chance to stay in a hotel that nice again in his lifetime unless he was on some undercover assignment and he was going to bemoan it for a while. Especially since he didn't have anything like driving to distract him. He was still trying to figure out exactly why he'd agreed to let her drive when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

"It's not that far of a drive and the Hampton Inn, where we're already scheduled to stay tomorrow night had plenty of room." She could see him fidget in his seat and the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile at the reaction to his demotion to the passenger seat. "The equipment from the Jeffersonian is going to be delivered there and this way we can get an early start."

Booth pulled a pouty scowl. "Well if it's not that far of a drive, why am I sitting over here?" He snuffed out his nose and glanced by at the dark scenery rolling by. It seemed that the landscape was dotted by malls and housing developments.

"You have a headache." It had been enough to procure the keys from him earlier, but now that he was clearly bored he wanted to drive and she wasn't going to give in. She was an excellent driver. "Besides, weren't you going to review the file that Agent Sims gave you?"

He flapped the thin file onto his knee and glanced at her. "I read it. Not much to it. They pulled a number of missing person cases from the area, but the problem is that we both know that doesn't always mean much." If it was that easy, they wouldn't have just flown all the way across the country to do an investigation.

She nodded and fell into a comfortable silence as they continued north into a city that the sign at the side of the freeway announced was Everett, population 101,800. It was certainly smaller than Seattle, modest office buildings in lieu of towering skyscrapers.

"Even if it _is_ a missing person in one of these cases, you need to make an ID before any of this is going to do us any good." Booth broke the silence as he glanced out the window noticing a sign that conveniently informed him that Mount Vernon was only thirty-one more miles and their hotel was just a couple more miles north of that. Okay, so maybe driving up to the crime scene tonight wasn't all that unreasonable.

She noticed him relax a little in the seat next to her and she smiled visibly. "Which we can do earlier since we're already staying near the crime scene." Traffic was thinning out a bit now that they were clearly moving out of urban areas. The only hub of activity as they continued to drive seemed to be around a casino and hotel that was visible from the freeway.

He was starting to feel a little bit better about missing out on staying at that nice hotel. Catching bad guys was far more satisfying that Egyptian cotton. "With you and me on the case we'll have this solved in no time."

"We will need some time. I'll need to analyze the bones and it will take some time examine the scene. Then I imagine the gum shoe will take some time as well." It was logical, a crime couldn't be solved in _no_ time - they might actually need considerable time.

He chuckled and glanced over at her. "It's shoe leather, Bones, and it's a saying. Of course we need time, but with us on the job, it will take less time." He found her endearing and had to fight a sudden urge to reach over and hold her hand. These urges to be affectionate towards here were happening with a greater frequency than he really knew what to do with, but it wasn't something that he felt comfortable talking to Sweets about it. The fact was, no one except him knew all of the details of the dream he'd had and he'd told Bones more snippets than anyone else. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to keep it to himself.

"Oh, well then I have to concur." They were a good team, the best actually. She glanced over and notice that he was rubbing his forehead. "How's your headache?" He really should have taken some pain medication, but he insisted that it wasn't that bad and he could wait until they got to the hotel.

"I'm good." His smile was soft. "I've been cleared for duty you know." She seemed a little too concerned for his well being than he would have expected from her and he wondered if she was having doubts about his ability to perform his duties.

"I know." Her eyes widened a little. "If you hadn't been, we wouldn't be on this case." She wouldn't be on the case because she didn't want to work with any FBI agent but him. While he was recovering, she'd taken advantage of an opportunity to go to Guatemala, but she'd thought about him every day, wondering how he was doing and why she had thought that leaving the country would help her deal with these feelings towards him that kept surfacing.

"They wouldn't have cleared me if I wasn't ready." He wanted to ease her doubt, he wanted her to believe that his brain tumor hadn't changed the essence of who he was. And deep down inside, he wanted to believe that there would be an opportunity for them to obliterate that line he'd shoved in place - a line that hardly seemed to be there anymore.

Brennan was quiet for a long moment and then glanced over at him. "Your headaches could be residual effects of your surgery - a sign that your body is still healing, but if they continue..." Her words tapered off and then came out again in a rush. "I just prefer that if you have a headache that you follow Dr. Jurrick's direction." She didn't want to tell him how helpless she felt sitting there for four days waiting for him to wake up. She'd had far too much time to think about what her life would be like if she'd lost him. They had come too close to that several times and at some point she was going to have to come to grips with her irrational emotions.

"I'm following the doc's orders, Bones. You don't need to worry." He couldn't help himself, he reached over and enveloped her hand that had been resting on the console between them, giving it a squeeze.

She squeezed back and didn't let go. "Worry is irrational and yet I find that I can't help myself sometimes." Her confession came out far more easily than she'd expected.

"Not everything in life is rational." His thumb caressed the back of her hand as his voice soothed. "We tend to worry about things we can't control, especially when it involves people we care about." He knew that his words when he'd woken from his coma had hurt her, when she'd believed for a moment that he didn't know who she was, even if it had been very short lived. The only question that remained for him was would the woman she was in his dreams ever be the woman he wanted her to be in reality?

"That is a plausible explanation." Brennan squeezed his hand again and gently pulled it away so she could focus on driving, but she pinched her face together and glanced over at him. "I don't like doing irrational things, Booth."

Booth laughed. "Get used to it, Bones. You're human and we humans are unpredictably irrational." His tone held a hint of teasing and it seemed to lighten the mood as a smile twitched across his partner's face.


	6. Chapter 6

The Hampton Inn was several steps of nice above what Booth had expected, but it was definitely not on the same level of the hotel they had left behind in Seattle. There was a connecting door between his and Bones' room and he had found it ironic that a connecting door wasn't really much different than a single room with two beds except that there was an extra wall. He had slept quite well, and was getting ready for the day. He had just stepped out of the shower and secured a towel around his waist when he heard a knock on the door between their rooms. He was sure he hadn't locked it, but before he could even take two steps out of the bathroom to check, the door swung open and Bones walked right in.

Brennan was momentarily startled, trying not to stare at Booth's chest as she finally blinked and looked him in the eyes. "Did you sleep well?" Despite the fact that it had been a completely rational decision to drive all the way up here last night, she had felt a little guilty that she had not let him get the sleep he needed.

There was a hint of amusement in his eyes as he noted the slightly flustered expression that had briefly crossed her face. "I slept very well." All he needed now, apparently, was clothing and a cup of coffee. Bones looked ready to go and seemed a little impatient to get to the crime scene if she could keep her eyes off of his physique that is.

"Good." She just stood there for a long moment, glancing back down to his chest before hooking her thumb towards the door she'd just come through. "I'll just go back over..." Another glance at his chest and she turned on her heels and walked back to her room, pulling the door shut behind her.

Booth stared at the door as a smile spread across his face. Bones had been flustered. Did that mean that maybe he wasn't the only one who was experiencing a little something more than just partnerly feelings? He chuckled to himself as he moved to get ready. It was definitely time to start testing the waters, maybe after they wrapped up this case he'd make a move and see how well she received it. She hadn't slapped him on the plane when he'd kissed her by accident, so maybe there was hope for him yet.

* * *

Deputy Kade Freeman from the Skagit County Sheriff's office met them in the lobby, offering them cups of Starbucks coffee to go. It seemed that their crime scene was nearly next door to the hotel and they sipped cups of the strong brew as they walked. They were right near the Skagit River, and just north of the county seat of Mount Vernon in an equally small town called Burlington. The area was slowly being taken over by small business parks, but the land closest to the river was still being farmed, albeit by corporate farms than families, but it was still an important focus of the entire valley.

Crime scene tape cordoned off the area where a couple of nervous looking cadets who had been on guard all night gratefully accepted the cups of coffee that the deputy offered them. The weather had only started to cool down from yesterday's triple digit record high and while the morning was pleasant enough, it was still supposed to get up well into the nineties before the day was out.

"Body is right over here." Deputy Freeman pointed down the short path into the grove of trees, he knew enough about these FBI types to keep unnecessary folks out of the actual crime scene. He'd only gone in far enough to know that this one was way over their heads.

Brennan ducked under the tape and gingerly stepped into the grove of trees that had become the last resting place of the person whose remains had been found. She took one look at the body and glanced up at Booth who had pad and pen ready. "This isn't our primary crime scene."

Booth raised a single brow. "How can you be sure?" She was a genius, but what was readily apparent to her, wasn't always as easy to pick up for everyone else.

"Neoprene." She shrugged. "It appears that our victim was wearing a wetsuit." She wasn't going to be able to do a preliminary examination until they removed the body and took it to a suitable location so they could remove the wetsuit as well. In her mind, the most suitable location would be the Jeffersonian, but she would settle for something resembling a lab to make some basic determinations before shipping the remains for a definitive identification. Right now, she couldn't even determine the sex of the victim.

"Wetsuit." Booth's brow furrowed. "River?" It was the closest body of water, but it seemed strange that in a place as close to ocean waters as this was that someone would go scuba diving in a river.

The deputy looked like he was thinking. "Anyone who is serious about diving wouldn't waste their time in the river unless it was Search and Rescue and all of our folks are accounted for."

"I'm going to need some place to examine the remains. I don't want to lose any potential evidence by trying to remove the neoprene here." She stood up and brushed her hands against her jeans.

"We've made arrangements for you to work with the coroner in Mount Vernon." The deputy wiped his brow, already hot from sun that didn't have any cloud cover.

"Is the coroner planning on coming to the scene, or are they expecting me to transport the remains on my own?" Brennan had flown all the way across the country, the least that the local coroner could do was provide some measure of assistance.

"Harold's on his way. Unless he stopped at the drive-thru at Starbucks he should be here pretty soon." Freeman gestured behind him in what was presumably the direction of the local Starbucks.

Brennan didn't seem to be terribly impressed. "I'm going to need to ship samples of the soil around the remains back to the Jeffersonian." She wasn't about to trust the results to any local forensics team. They had called her and Booth in and that meant that the entire Squint Squad was on the job as well. She was thankful that her equipment had arrived okay and that Cam had somehow foreseen the need for several items that hadn't been on her list.

"Whatever you need, Dr. Brennan, we'll make sure you get." Freeman had a great deal of respect for the woman. Hell, he'd even read her novels.

"Once we get the remains taken to the coroner, I'm going to want to talk to whoever it was that found the body." It was a long shot at best, but Booth wanted to follow protocol. Oftentimes, the first person to find a body was a good suspect.

"Felix is more than willing to tell you whatever you need to know. He was pretty shook up by finding that in the first place. Poor guys is taking a few days off." Freeman had been the one that had responded to the scene initially and he'd immediately realized that they were going to need more help than what they had available locally, so he'd called in the FBI.

"I want to go with you." Brennan's hands were on her hips as she addressed him. They were partners and she didn't want him to run off and get ahead of her on the investigation.

"Bones, I'm just going to talk to the guy while you do your bone thing. It's probably not going to amount to anything." He flashed her a grin that would charm most people into volunteering into confessing to crimes that hadn't even been committed yet. With her, it usually bought him a little time.

She considered this for about a half a second before she answered. "Fine. But I want to help question the suspects." That was only partially true - Booth was far better at interrogation than she was - it was his area of expertise after all. The other reason was that even though Sweets had certified Booth as fit for duty, she still had some measure of doubt that he was ready to be out there on his own without her to back him up. She glanced over at the deputy and gave him a pointed look. "When do you expect your coroner to arrive?"

"I'll just give Harold a call and find out what's taking him so long to get here." Deputy Freeman let out a soft chuckle and smirked. If he was a betting man, he'd guess that Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan were a couple, maybe even the real life inspiration for the characters in her books.


	7. Chapter 7

Brennan had determined a few things once she'd been able to do a proper examination of the body. The victim was a young woman, maybe even as young as fifteen, and from the rate of decomposition, she surmised that she'd died as little as three weeks. An odd shaped puncture she'd found in the neoprene could be indicative of a murder weapon, or something that was used the move the body. She really couldn't be sure until the remains were sent back to the Jeffersonian for further examination. As adequate as the coroner's office in Skagit County might be for investigating most deaths, the Jeffersonian was just better and given that they didn't have state of the art equipment or the breadth of experience that was available in DC, there wasn't even an argument about keeping the forensic evaluation of the case local.

Brennan had spent the better part of the day directing the removal of the body from the scene, collecting soil and plant samples for Hodgins and then doing the examination of the body herself. The coroner, Dr. Harold Pennington, had been extremely helpful, but she was more interested in bone evidence than she was the the little flesh that remained on the body. At least he'd been able to collect tissue samples that would be helpful to Cam. He'd also kept up an almost constant stream of conversation, not all of which Brennan really thought was directed at anyone in particular. She was glad when he'd been called away to work another case, leaving her alone for the rest of the afternoon.

Somewhere in the middle of it all, Booth had shown up and brought her something for lunch, staying just long enough to share it with her and make sure she actually ate, and to brag about the pie at some place called the Calico Cupboard. He'd been off with Deputy Freeman talking to the man who'd found the body and he'd managed to squeeze in a slice of pie.

It was getting late in the day and she had barely made the deadline to ship the remains out - Booth had assured her that it would make the last FedEx shipment and he was going to escort it personally. That had been a while ago and she was beginning to wonder when he was coming back. She needed test results back from the Jeffersonian before she could do much else but Booth had told her that they'd been able to narrow down the missing persons reports from what she'd been able to give them and that would give them something constructive to do until they had more information from the lab.

A soft knock at the door of the small room she'd been working in most of the day made her glance up, and she couldn't help but smile as she notice a grinning Booth standing there.

"Made the plane with time to spare." He wasn't going to tell her that he'd been ready to threaten to call the FAA to ground the plane because of a suspected suspicious package if he hadn't been able to get there on time. Fortunately for them, he'd been right on time and he'd gotten especially good service when he'd flashed his badge.

"Good." It had been a long day and as much as she enjoyed her job, she was glad for a break and Booth's company.

"So, I heard about this place near the hotel we could go for dinner." There was a hint of mischief in his voice as he leaned against the door frame.

"More pie?" She smirked. He'd been so excited about that pie earlier that she was sure that he was going to want more.

"Nope." He pushed away from the door frame and stepped towards her. "It's a Japanese hibachi steakhouse and sushi bar." He thought that she'd be pleased that there would be enough vegetarian options and he could still enjoy some steak.

"So you want to go because of the knives and fire." She rolled her eyes in amusement. Leave it to a man like Booth to want to pick a restaurant based on danger.

"Hibachi is good. They have other things." What was wrong with a little entertainment while your food was being prepared? His hand came to the small of her back as she stepped through the doorway and he propelled her toward the door nearest to where he'd parked the SUV.

"Toro?" She did like sushi, although she would have been perfectly happy with a salad.

"I'm sure they do." Although he wasn't at all sure about that - he'd had the restaurant recommended to him by Deputy Freeman who had said that it was one of the best places to eat around - especially if you wanted to impress a lady. The implication had been there, but Booth hadn't dignified it either way, but he had tucked the information away anyway.

"So were you able to get missing persons reports based on the age and sex?" Surely they could go over those after dinner and get a plan together for tomorrow. The sooner they made an identification the sooner they could at least give a family closure while they continued to investigate the crime.

"Yes, but I haven't even looked at them. Dinner first, okay, Bones?" He was going to do his best to see that she enjoyed herself.

There was just something about his smile that caused a flip in her stomach, if that were physically possible and she simply nodded as she smiled in return and walked with him out to the SUV.

* * *

From first glance, Sakura was nothing more than a restaurant in a strip mall right next door to their hotel, but once they'd walked inside, the ambiance was actually quite nice. Clearly it was a popular restaurant, given how crowded it was. But they hadn't waited very long before they were seated at a table - just to the side of the hibachi tables which were packed and the chefs were in full swing - chopping and flipping and putting on a show that seemed to delight the diners.

"We could have waited for a table over there if that's what you wanted." Brennan could see him watching flying knives and flame shooting up now and then as they waited for the meals they'd ordered. Clearly it appealed to his masculine nature and anthropologically speaking, it probably harkened back to the ancestral roots of man hunting for his food. She could appreciate its attraction for him.

Booth shook his head and smiled at her. "It's too crowded." He would much rather not have to share his dinner with eight strangers and Bones. Just Bones was just fine with him. He'd been thinking about his dream and how it was about time he let her know a little bit more about it. At least if she knew where some of his confusion was coming from, she might be a little more understanding if he accidentally kissed her again. Of course, the one thing he wasn't confused at all about was that he _wanted_ to kiss her again - Booth kissing Bones - no accident in that.

She smiled at him from across the table. "Dr. Pennington was very chatty today."

Booth's expression froze for just a moment as he seemed to purposely be trying to relax. "Did he hit on you?" If he had, he was going to have a nice little chat with the man and set him straight on proper behavior towards colleagues that were clearly out of their league and half their age.

Brennan laughed. "He's a married man, Booth. He is apparently a big fan of my books." And she wasn't going to mention that the man had suggested no less than two or three different plot lines that she thought she should use in her next book.

"Oh." He was visibly relieved and tried to shrug off his jealously so that Bones wouldn't see it. "Did you give him an autograph?" Her carryon bag _had_ been a little heavy and he wouldn't have put it past her to have a couple of copies of her latest book to hand out to adoring fans.

She looked a little embarrassed at the suggestion. "No. I was trying to examine the remains, although I told him that I'd be happy to do so after we'd wrapped up the investigation."

"That's my Bones." He grinned at her and then shifted gears a little as he realized that he was going to have to make an opening in the conversation if he was going to tell her about his dream. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and then plunged forward. "Look, Bones, I wanted to talk to you about something."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Okay."

His smile was soft. "During my coma, that dream I had." He cleared his throat. "I didn't tell you everything about it."

Her brows furrowed. "You mean we weren't nightclub owners?" She had found the concept of her and Booth running the lab as a club rather amusing when he'd originally told her about it. Now she looked at him expectantly as she waited for him to continue.

"No, we were." He looked right into her eyes. This was Bones, he could do this, and once he'd told her about the dream, maybe he could work up his courage and put his heart out there as well. "It's just that it was a lot more than that. _We_ were a lot more than just partners who owned a nightclub together."


	8. Chapter 8

Booth looked at her oddly. "So your story was my dream?" It didn't make any sense to him at all - it had all felt so real and it had clarified exactly what it was he was feeling and here she was telling him that he'd dreamed the story she'd read aloud to him that she'd written while he was in a coma.

"It's completely logical. Auditory cues during an unconscious state could certainly produce a dream that is exceptionally vivid." Brennan was surprised at how his dream had followed her story - although, just how closely must have been attributed to just what she'd told him.

"It felt so real, Bones." And he was certain that his feelings for her were real. They weren't just because of a dream he'd had - of that he was sure. At least he thought he was sure. And if she had written the story - one that clearly had nothing to do with Kathy and Andy and everything to do with them living a completely different life - what did that say about her feelings for him?

"Your dream _was_ exceptionally vivid." She felt somewhat uncomfortable at the thought of just how much of her book he'd dreamed about. No wonder in his confusion he'd kissed her on the plane. She wondered again if he really was ready to tackle field duty when it was clear that he was still imagining that some of the dream was real - albeit when he was sleeping, but still. Somehow she was sure that Sweets would have a had a heyday with that little nugget of information.

"Yes, it was." He wasn't sure how far to push things - that look on her face spoke volumes and right now, the last thing he wanted was to scare off the one person that he wanted on his side more than anything.

Rational brain fully engaged, Brennan reasoned out loud. "Of course given time, I'm sure that you will be back to normal in no time."

"I'm not abnormal, Bones." Leave it to her to imply that he was less than himself - somehow not whole. If anything he felt more complete after his dream, as if the life he was supposed to be living had been shown to him. Minus the night club that is - he was born to be an FBI agent and Bones wouldn't be Bones without bones.

She looked at him as she attempted to rationalize what had happened earlier. "But you were confused on the plane." There, she'd said it. It was out there in the open now.

Booth's brows knit together, she was right, but she was also wrong. Just because he'd been momentarily confused that she wasn't his wife didn't mean that he hadn't wanted to kiss her.

"Of course the dissociative episode could be explained by your pain medication." It was completely logical that medication that made you unfit to operate heavy machinery could also affect a brain that had undergone a rather intense coma dream.

"Just because I was momentarily confused doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it." His lips twitched up into a smile as he could almost see the wheels turning in her mind.

The corners of her mouth slowly pulled upwards until she was wearing a smile as well. "You _are_ an enjoyable kisser." She had been shocked, but she had enjoyed - wished it had been a little longer even, due in large part to the curiosity she'd developed after their mistletoe kiss. Not that it had to mean anything. There was a line firmly in place between them after all.

"Well you couldn't have enjoyed it too much." His retort was quick and he didn't even think about the implication of what he was saying.

"Why do you say that?" Her eyebrows shot up in confusion and she leaned back in her seat a little as she looked across the table at him. Of course she'd enjoyed it.

Booth snorted out a laugh realizing that he'd already said more than he'd intended, but the only way to clear things up without hurting her feelings was to dig his hole a little deeper. "_I_ seemed to be the only one participating in the kiss."

Brennan's cheeks flushed pink. "You were medicated." It would have been completely awkward if she'd kissed him back, especially when he'd been confused about exactly who she was.

"Maybe a little." His smirk made his eyes twinkle. The medication hadn't impaired his mind _that_ much. He thought that the tumor and his coma had done a good enough job of that already. The biggest thing he'd noticed was that he had more difficulty editing what his mind was thinking while his mouth was moving. It was a minor miracle that he hadn't declared his undying love for her given that he thought about it every other minute.

"You did it on purpose?" Her tone was accusatory, but not angry. It was as if she'd finally been let in on an inside joke. She wasn't sure what to do with the idea that perhaps Booth had wanted to kiss her all along, that maybe these feelings she'd been having for him weren't as unreciprocated as she'd thought. Maybe.

Booth pursed his lips in thought as he considered just how far he wanted to press the conversation - they still had a case they had to solve and at the rate they were going, they were going to be here a couple of days at least. He leaned forward conspiratorially, resting his elbows on the table. "Accidentally on purpose."

"Oh." She hoped that her disappointment wasn't evident in the tone of her voice.

This was not going how he'd hoped and he tried to rephrase. "I mean, I was dreaming that you were Bren, like in my coma dream, but when I realized it was you, I wasn't sorry that I was kissing you. I was just sorry that you weren't kissing me back." Okay, _that_ didn't make him sound like he was twelve like Sweets.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean." Brennan's brows were knit together as she leaned her elbows on the table as well. She knew what she hoped he meant. "Was it _me_ you wanted to kiss or was it your dream self wanting to kiss Bren?"

Booth leaned in just a little closer his eyes locking with hers. "Both." It didn't matter if she was in his dreams or if she was right in front of him, either way, this was _only_ woman he was interested in kissing. The only woman he was interested in, period.

She seemed to be doing some inward calculation and then as if arriving at some conclusion simply nodded her head and smiled. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." She paused for a brief moment as her smile took on decidedly more conspiratorial look. "In case it happens accidentally on purpose again."

Booth tried to swallow his grin. They seemed to be having one of those moments where their eyes seemed to say things that words just couldn't. He considered just leaning in a little bit more to try and kiss her right there and just as he'd made up his mind to do just that, fate seemed to intervene.

"Here's your sushi appetizer. The rest of your order should be up shortly" The young waitress seem oblivious to what she'd interrupted as she set the plate in between them with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

File folders were strewn all over the bed in Brennan's hotel room and even more had ended up on the floor after they'd been summarily ruled out as having any relevancy to their case. She and Booth had been going through each one of the files to see if there was any piece of information that was compelling enough to check the DNA that had been collected from the remains against any that might have been submitted by the families of those who had reported these people missing in the first place. The height of the stack was daunting, but they'd managed to get through about half of it.

"What do you think, Bones." Booth leaned back against the headboard and gestured to the file in his hand. "This one could fit the profile, don't you think?" His black Ramones t-shirt and faded blue jeans made him look like he was ready to kick back and watch a football game instead of pouring through files for a murder investigation.

She glanced over at it and then shook her head. "Too tall. Our victim was at least three inches shorter than this girl." They'd looked through a disturbingly large number of files - not all of them local missing persons, but then again, missing people weren't always found anywhere close to home. She was glad for the comfort of the hotel room and for the jeans and t-shirt she'd changed into after a long day of crouching over an autopsy table in an unfamiliar lab.

Booth yawned. "It would be a lot easier if we had a face to go on." With each missing persons report there was a picture of a smiling face that spoke of happier times than the circumstances the victim that had been found near the strawberry field ended up in. So far though, it seemed that they hadn't found anyone in any of these files that was even a leading candidate and he wondered to himself whether every missing persons report in the region wasn't sitting right there in front of them.

"I was unable to place tissue markers on the skull due to the amount of remaining flesh." She hoped that Mr. Nigel-Murray would be be able to accurately place the markers once the skull was available. Once that was done, Angela would be able to use the Angelator to simulate a face. For now, they had to rely on shoe rubber and continue to sift through the file folders.

He frowned and picked up another file. "You know if we were in DC, this is the kind of thing that I'd have some rookie doing." They would have given them some critical criteria and then they would have only had to review the most pertinent files rather than the enormous stack that the local field office had provided, clearly assembled before they'd even made the determination about whether the victim was a man or a woman.

She couldn't help but smirk at him. "We're not in DC, so you're going to just have to sip it up and deal with it."

He smirked right back. "It's suck it up, Bones, not sip it up." And he _did_ need to do that because they were it and the more they could narrow down this pile before morning the better off they were going to be. Of course he wasn't complaining about getting to spend some quality time alone with Bones.

"We could probably narrow things down further if we knew which of these missing women were in the habit of wearing neoprene." It was logical to conclude that the neoprene was used for SCUBA diving, but asking if someone was a certified diver wasn't exactly a standard question when filing a missing persons report.

"If the victim was last seen SCUBA diving, then that might be in one of these files." Booth gestured towards the files that they'd discarded and slouched down on the bed, grabbing one of the pillows and stuffing it behind his head.

"What are you doing?" Brennan looked at him curiously as she reached for yet another file. It wasn't that late on the West Coast, the fact that their bodies were still essentially functioning on East Coast time aside, they still had several more hours before turning in for the night was generally acceptable.

"Just resting my eyes for a few minutes." A tiny bit of shut eye and he'd be as good as new. And since he was right here, he'd be able to pick up a file and start working again as soon as his eyes had gotten sufficient rest.

"Do you need your medication?" Perhaps she should just press forward and let Booth go back to his room and get some sleep. She wasn't at all tired yet herself, but she also hadn't had brain surgery.

"Nope, no drugs here. Just getting my second wind." He intended to flash a smile in her direction and ended up yawning instead. "Right after I take a short little nap." He shifted a little and let his head sink into the pillow. This was all just so nice - taking a little nap right here next to Bones.

She wanted to point out that this was her bed in her hotel room, but since his intent wasn't to go to sleep for the entire night, but simply rest for a few minutes, she shook her head with an amused smile on her face and turned her attention back to the files.

She didn't really notice when he fell asleep, but she couldn't help but study him from time to time as she continued to sift through the files. His features were decidedly masculine and symmetrical and even in his relaxed state it was obvious that he was very strong. There was something very attractive about the way he looked just then and it caused the corners of her mouth to pull upwards into a smile.

Several hours had gone by and Booth was still asleep. Brennan supposed that he was probably out for the night. With quite a few more files to go, she deemed that perhaps taking a short break of her own was in order and she found herself slinking down and pulling the other pillow on the bed underneath her head. Just a few minutes of rest and she would go back to the stack of files - Booth would be impressed that she had finished going through all of them so they could get a head start on things in the morning.

It didn't take long at all and Brennan was fast asleep herself, files still strewn between she and Booth.

**Author's Note:** I had hoped to post the chapters at a faster rate, however, real life seems to keep rearing it's mojo killing head. Thank you for reading and I hope to have the next chapter up much faster than this last one.


	10. Chapter 10

Something sharp was poking Booth right in the lips and completely throwing off his very pleasant dream. Whereas, just moments ago his dream self was all snuggled up to his dream Bones, her silky hair had just turned into pokey daggers when he'd tried to lean in and kiss her neck. He mumbled as he slowly woke up. "Do you have a gun hidden in there too?" He blinked once as he tried to orient himself and found that his dream Bones was in reality a pillow and what he'd been leaning in to kiss was a file folder - which explained the poke to his lip. The real Bones was peacefully sleeping just a foot or so away, the swath of file folders on the bed between them acting as some sort of cruel sentry.

Booth let out a little grunt as he pushed the folders into a pile and grabbed the makeshift stack and put it on the floor next to the bed - with a lot more care than they'd taken when they were discarding files earlier that night. It was late and the light was still on despite the fact that his partner was sound asleep on the bed next to him. He smiled as he reached up and turned the light off. If she hadn't minded falling asleep next to him earlier, well then he wasn't going to make an effort to go back to his own hotel room. He had just settled himself in and closed his eyes with a smile when he felt her shift next to him.

"Booth." Her voice was sleepy as she blinked in the darkness.

"Right here, Bones, go back to sleep." He reached out and intended to just pat her hand as he rolled onto his side, but found it coming to rest on her hip instead - apparently she'd moved after he'd flicked the light out.

Her hand reached out and found his chest. The texture of the fabric seemed to release a thought that she'd kept to herself for some time. "I've always admired the way you look in a t-shirt." Apparently her brain couldn't filter her words very well when she was this tired.

"You can't even see me right now." There was a hint of chuckle in his voice and a slight panic ensuing in his mind. He did not need Bones flirting with him right now.

"I don't really need to see you to know that you look nice in a t-shirt." She began to make a mental checklist of the muscles that were underneath her hand and her fingers brushed at the fabric as she tried to remember which t-shirt he was wearing.

His hand was still resting lightly on her hip, his thumb had started to move of its own volition. "It's late, Bones, we should go back to sleep." The fact that he was still in her bed wasn't something that he was going to point out, especially to himself. He leaned in to press a kiss to the top of her head, but felt her hand slide up his chest and come to rest at the back of his neck. His lips found her forehead instead.

It certainly wasn't rational, but she'd been told that sometimes you needed to put your brain in neutral and your heart in overdrive. Being sleepy seemed to help achieve that much easier. Her fingers slipped through the shortly cropped hair at the nape of his neck and she tilted her head fractionally as she leaned in closer. Her lips found his jaw.

Booth felt his heart quicken and his eyes fluttered shut at the feel of her lips against his skin. "What are you doing, Bones?" Oh, he knew what she was doing, he just couldn't believe that she was really doing it. He braced himself because any second she was going to realize what she was doing and change her mind.

"I'm trying to kiss you." Surely it should be obvious, but at least the sound of his voice helped her to correct the tilt of her head as she finally found his lips.

His protest was muffled against her mouth and by then he wasn't sure why he should be protesting anyway. This was far better than the dreams he'd been having since his coma. Here he was really kissing Bones, or rather, she was kissing him.

She'd been thinking about this since he'd kissed her on the plane. She simply couldn't come up with a rational reason for why she _shouldn't_ be kissing him, especially not when it was so nice. Her fingers slid back down his neck to his chest again. Yes, she could certainly appreciate such well defined musculature underneath that t-shirt of his.

His hand drift from her hip to the small of her back, a place so familiar, yet in this context afforded him the ability to pull her a little bit closer and deepen the kiss. This had to be a dream. How could something this wonderful be real, especially when he considered just how many times he'd had dreams just like this since his coma?

She sighed as she felt his lips move from her mouth to her neck and she found herself suddenly on her back and Booth's fingers threading their way into her hair.

Okay, this was definitely not a dream, not with a sigh that. His lips trailed back up to her mouth and as he felt her fingers pulling at the hem of his t-shirt, he realized that this was going very quickly towards something that they couldn't back up from. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. "I should go back to my room."

"I think you should stay here." She leaned up and pressed her lips to his again. It wasn't as if either one of them was awake enough to do much more than make out anyway despite the fact that she was sure he was probably spectacular in bed.

A few more kisses and he pulled back again. "I should really go." He didn't want to go, but he also didn't want her to have any regrets about this in the morning.

"We're just kissing." She leaned up and kissed him again, smiling against his mouth as he eagerly returned it and then let out a giggle as she realized that his hand was halfway up the front of her shirt. This time she was the one that pulled back. "Okay, so maybe there's a little more than kissing going on."

"We should stop." He knew where he wanted this to go, eventually, but he wanted to talk about what was going on between them before they took the step where this was heading.

"If you're concerned about not getting enough sleep, we can just sleep." She would have preferred a bit more making out, but they were here on a case and they needed to be alert and focused first thing in the morning so they could identify their victim.

He pressed a chaste kiss against her lips and pulled back. "It's not the sleep I'm worried about."

Her hands came to rest on his biceps as he hovered over her and she smiled at just how strong he was. "If you're worried about your performance, I'm sure that since the coma hasn't affected any of your other motor functions that sexual performance shouldn't be an issue either."

"I don't have performance issues." Booth let out a frustrated growl. "I just think we're rushing towards something and I want to make sure we're on the same page before we get there." This was one of those times where she could be so clueless and there was nothing endearing about it. Performance issues? Seeley Booth did not have performance issues.

She considered his words for a fraction of a second and came to a conclusion. "That's logical."

"So I should go then." He rolled onto his back and let out a sigh, he really didn't want to leave, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea that he stayed either.

"We'll just sleep. It'll be fine." She curled her body towards his as she wrapped her arms around her pillow. "Besides, we have to get up in a few hours and you're already here." Perfectly logical.

"Sure, logical." Nothing about it was logical when he factored in his libido.

"Goodnight, Booth." The smile was evident in her voice as she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Bones." Booth was sure he wasn't going to get much sleep at all, not with Bones laying there within reach and being so distractingly kissable.


	11. Chapter 11

Booth was having the best dream, he had Bones in his arms and she was all warm and soft and curvy, and she smelled really, really good. Yes, this was a _very_ good dream, one that he didn't want to wake up from. He tried to will himself to stay in his dream as his inner body clock let him know it was time to get up. As he tried to ignore it, something was tickling his nose. He blinked his eyes open and smiled. _Bones_. This was better than a dream, he really was all snuggled up with Bones and all the memories of their middle of the night make out session flitted through his mind. He closed his eyes, intent on enjoying this as long as possible. He let out a contented sigh and an amused voice broke through the nice little dream-a-little-longer bubble he'd built for himself.

"Booth, your hand is on my breast." Not that it hadn't been a pleasant way to wake up, but if she was taking him at his word from last night, they needed to talk first.

Apparently, his hand had a mind all it's own and it took him a moment to move it. "Sorry about that, Bones." He only hoped that she wasn't having second thoughts about what had gone on between them as she shifted next to him.

She turned to face him, finding him a little too irresistible to not lean in and press a soft kiss against his mouth. "Good morning."

"Good morning." His grin was bright enough to light up the room and he leaned in and stole a kiss of his own. Oh, he could get used to this - as long as they had that talk and he was sure that she wanted what he wanted. He couldn't do whatever this was that they were doing half assed.

Brennan leaned in for another kiss, letting her arm wind around his torso as she felt him pull her closer. She mumbled against his lips. "I'm on page 167, what page are you on?" She had seen the clock next to the bed, it was still early and there was plenty of time if Booth was willing to let things take their natural course. Surely they could talk later.

"What happens on page 167?" He had no idea what she was talking about, but apparently it involved wrapping her leg around his hip. Oh, this was nice - better than nice, but in the back of his mind he could almost hear the warning bells going off.

Once she'd made her mind up about something, she went full speed ahead. "Good things." Her lips found his again as her hand slipped down and fingered his 'Cocky' belt buckle.

He tried to pull back, something that he found very difficult given that she was wrapped around him. "Whoa there, Bones." It was one thing to make out a little more, it was quite another to take a giant leap when he wasn't sure exactly where she was coming from.

"Isn't it obvious that I want you?" Her voice was laced with disappointment. Did she have to spell it out for him?

"And I want you. Trust me, I do." This woman was going to be the death of him one day, but he could die a happy man if he had to go down like that. He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers. "But we need to have a little chat - it wasn't that long ago that you assumed I wanted to kiss you because you thought I was still hallucinating."

It was a perfectly reasonable statement and she couldn't argue with it, no matter how much she wanted to satisfy her biological urges. "Okay."

"Okay?" He snorted out his reply in disbelief. It couldn't possibly be that easy.

"We have a case to work on and I suppose it would be easier to have a rational discussion if we weren't laying in a bed together." She disentangled herself and rolled away from him, a wide smile still playing at her lips.

"A rational discussion, huh?" Of course Bones would want to approach this all squinty. But in this instance he had to agree that it was the best approach.

"Well I tried to put my brain in neutral and my heart in overdrive, but that doesn't seem to be working." Her brow was furrowed as she considered that she wasn't quite sure how to get across to him that she had come to a conclusion about him herself that had only a little to do with his previous confusion about which woman she was.

"Save that for later. Trust me, I hope they'll be plenty of time for that later." And now wasn't the time for that little talk either as much as he wanted to know what was going on in that super-squinty brain of hers. He rolled away from her and reached for the remaining stack of files that he'd placed on the floor.

"But right now we need to focus on the case." She propped herself up as he deposited the files between them.

"Right." In the back of his mind, Booth was thinking that a cold shower would do him a world of good right now, but the stack of files wasn't that thick and between the two of them, maybe they could get something out of the files before the squints started calling with results from the remains that Bones had sent.

* * *

It seemed that after all the files they'd looked through that it literally came down to the last one in the stack. Natalie Chilukuri fit the age and height profile that Brennan had come up with during her examination of the remains, and as an avid SCUBA diver, it would seem to further confirm that she was mostly likely their victim. A Canadian exchange student majoring in Marine Biology at Western Washington University about twenty-five miles north in Bellingham, she'd been missing for about three weeks. But how she'd ended up in wooded area next to a strawberry field near the Skagit River was a mystery.

"Her parents live in Vancouver, just across the border in British Columbia." Oh, this was going to complicate the hell out of things. They had better be damn certain that this was indeed their victim before he had to call in the Mounties. At least the death had likely occurred on US soil, so he didn't have to worry about a jurisdictional pissing contest.

"Her roommate had initially reported her missing." Brennan was scanning the file to familiarize herself with the details so that when they got around to questioning people, she would have plenty of background information.

"We should pay her a visit. Hopefully there's a hairbrush or toothbrush or something that we can get DNA off of before we go traipsing across the border." Booth knew that the parents would need to be informed, but he didn't want to give them false hopes. Of course it was entirely possible, that with a simple phone call that they'd be willing to drive down to provide a DNA sample themselves.

"If it isn't her, then we have nothing." She let out a sigh as she put the file down on the bed between them. "I hate that I want it to be her." It was the worst part of the job.

Booth reached for her hand. "If it is her, then her family gets closure." He didn't want to even think about the dead end they'd have if it turned out that Natalie Chilukuri wasn't their victim.

"You're right." Her smile was serious as she looked into his eyes. "Of course you're right." He was the one that was good with people, good with her. Maybe that was the reason that she'd finally allowed her mind to acknowledge what her heart had been feeling for some time.


	12. Chapter 12

Aimee Reynolds looked a bit shell shocked as she showed Booth and Brennan into the apartment that she shared with Natalie. "It isn't like Nat to not come home after she'd been out diving - at least not without calling. Sometimes she'd stay out on the boat with Matt." She had a slightly panicked expression on her face. "Oh, don't tell her parents that I said that - I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be very happy if they knew she spent more time out on that boat with him than she did in the library for all the money they're shelling out for the summer quarter." She shook her head and looked at the pair who were studying her closely. "I hoped that I was only overreacting by filing that missing persons report, but if you're here that can't be good."

"Miss Reynolds, I know that this must be difficult for you, but we're going to need to take a few of Natalie's things to do a DNA comparison." Booth didn't think that there was a more gentle way of stating just why they were there.

"Please call me Aimee." This whole thing was too much to process as she realized if the FBI was working on the case that Nat really might not be coming back.

"Aimee, can you direct me to a toothbrush or a hairbrush, or some other personal hygiene item that Natalie would have used." Brennan was trying to take her cues from Booth on whether he thought this young woman was a suspect, and so far, it didn't seem to be the case.

"Of course." Aimee seemed to come to some sort of realization as she led them down the hall towards the bathroom. "Her toothbrush is the blue one and her hairbrush is in the first drawer - everything in that drawer is Nat's." Her lower lip started to quiver. "Did you find her?"

"Some remains were found and we're trying to make a positive identification, so it is possible that we have." Brennan quickly slipped on a pair of latex gloves and gathered the items in the top drawer that she thought had the potential to carry some trace of DNA and plucked the toothbrush out of the holder next to the sink.

Booth interjected gently. "Aimee, this Matt that you mentioned, why didn't he file the missing person's report?" If he was reading the situation correctly, Matt was Natalie's boyfriend and clearly her parents didn't approve of him.

Aimee's eyes went wide. "He's missing too." She swallowed hard. "We all volunteer at the Marine Life Center and no one has seen him since Nat disappeared."

"What is his last name?" Booth made a mental note to do a little digging about this guy and see if there might be any reason he might be hiding something.

"Conner. His name is Matt Conner." Aimee had tears pricking at her eyes. "He's a good guy. If something happened to Nat, then something must have happened to Matt too."

"We'll certainly look in it." Booth wasn't convinced that their number one suspect wasn't this Matt Conner if their victim ended up being Natalie Chilukuri.

"Booth, I've got what we need." Brennan gestured to the bag that she'd gathered the items in.

"Thank you for your help, Aimee. We'll be in touch if we need anything further." Booth could tell that the young woman was shaken.

"Should I call her parents?" Aimee looked horrified at the thought that she might have to make _that_ kind of call. "They'd want to know...I just...I don't think I can..." Her words trailed off.

Booth shook his head. "We've already spoken with them." The truth was, he'd already started surfing the international nightmare of cross border coordination with the help of the local field office and the Mounties, and they had been the ones that had given Natasha's parents the news that she'd probably been found, and not the way that they'd hoped. Dental records would be forthcoming soon. He ushered Bones out of the room and shut the door behind them.

* * *

"We're sending a few personal items that hopefully will yield enough of a DNA sample to make a comparison to the remains." Brennan was online with the Jeffersonian, having created a makeshift office in the back of the SUV.

"Good to know." Cam had already begun her own examination of the body and so far hadn't made any definitive cause of death. As soon as she was done, she was going to have Mr. Nigel-Murray deflesh the bones and see if those provided any additional information that would allow them to know why the victim died.

Brennan clicked off by shutting the laptop and turned as Booth rounded the back of the vehicle flipping his cell phone shut.

"By all accounts, Matt Conner is a stand up guy. He was reported missing by his brother about the same time that Natalie Chilukuri disappeared." If he'd wanted a straight forward murder investigation, this certainly wasn't it. "He said that the boat Matt used is moored southwest of here in a town called Anacortes."

"We haven't positively identified her yet." She knew that Booth had to check out the lead, but technically it wasn't a lead until they confirmed what they'd already suspected.

"You and I both know that it's most likely her." He stepped in close, they were pulled off at a park near the University that had an amazing view of Bellingham Bay. He was tempted just to lean in and kiss her, but he held himself in check - for now. They had a bit of a drive ahead of them - maybe they could talk on the way.

"There is a strong probability that it is her, but we need to be open to the possibility that it might not be until we can confirm the ID." They needed to follow protocol after all, something that they most certainly weren't doing last night when they ended up making out after accidentally sharing a bed. She gave him a studied look as he sat down in the back of the SUV.

"And until we do, we need to press forward because we need to track down every lead we can before we head back to DC." He glanced over at her and smiled as she sat down next to him, both of them now facing towards the bay. The truth was, he wouldn't complain about a bit more time alone with Bones away from all of the prying eyes of their friends.

"When do you plan on bringing up last night?" Brennan didn't see the point in putting off this conversation he insisted on having. They had always had personal discussions over the course of an investigation, and since they clearly didn't have a positive identification yet, she didn't see why right now wouldn't work just fine.

Booth let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "You sure don't beat around the bush do you?"

Her answer was predictable. "I don't know what that means."

He glanced down and then glanced over, catching her eyes with his. "It's an expression. I just want to make sure we both know what we're doing before we cross a line and we can't take it back."

"No changies, no take backs?" She knew that this was a monumental step, but his coma had crystalized for her that she couldn't sit back and ignore the reality that Angela had been trying to wake her up to for years.

"Yeah." He smiled softly.

Her expression was earnest. "I feel something for you, Booth, that I can't quantify...and until you said that whether it was me or the version of me in your dream, it didn't matter, you just wanted me, I wasn't sure that what you were feeling was real."

It wasn't an admission of love, but this was Bones and her making a confession at all was a bit of a quantum leap and it gave him hope that as scary as changing the nature of their relationship was, he was willing to take the risk. "What I feel is very real."

"How real is very real?" She had a bit of a smirk behind her smile as she eyed his lips, knowing full well that he was staring at hers.

"Mmm, this real." He closed the distance between them and indulged himself for a moment as his lips pressed against hers and his fingers slid into her hair. It felt like the most natural thing in the world and he was sure he wanted to keep doing this everyday for the rest of his life.

There was nothing hurried in their kiss and as they pulled apart smiling, Brennan had a conspiratorial tone to her voice as she leaned back in towards him. "Real enough to engage in intercourse later?"

"Don't say it like that. You're sucking all of the romance right out of it." Booth snorted out in disbelief, but the reality was that no matter how she phrased it, that was exactly what he wanted.


	13. Chapter 13

Josh Conner met Booth and Brennan at a marina near the State Ferry terminal where he'd told Booth over the phone that his brother Matt's boat was moored. He led them towards the entrance to the dock where the boat was. "Matt mostly spent weekends out here and Nat was always with him."

"You reported your brother missing?" Booth followed him down the dock, Bones right behind him. The thwack of the young man's flip flops on the decking underscoring that although the record heat had finally abated, it was still nearly ninety degrees and he was wearing jeans and their hotel had no pool.

"Yeah, we were supposed to go out fishing and he didn't turn up, so I called around and no one had seen him." Josh glanced back. "That's not like Matt - and when I found out that Nat was missing, I figured that something had happened to him too." He looked worried as he recounted the story.

As they stopped in front of a slip holding a Bayliner Motoryacht, Brennan glanced at Booth with her eyebrows raised and then addressed Josh. "Is this the boat?"

"Yeah." Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't really been out here since Matt disappeared."

Booth interjected. "If you don't mind me asking, how did Matt afford a boat like this." He seemed to have gears churning in his mind. "A boat like this isn't exactly affordable for the average college student." A quick mental calculation and he was sure that the vessel was at least a quarter of a million dollars.

"We got some inheritance money when my dad passed away. Matt spent all of his on that boat. I invested." Josh shook his head. "It was just the three of us for a long time - Mom died when we were young and we spent a lot of time on the water. I think it was Matt's way of trying to stay close to Dad."

Booth hooked his thumb towards the boat. "Has anyone checked the boat since Matt disappeared?"

Josh nodded. "When we couldn't find Matt we looked on the boat. We figured that since it was back in port that he was somewhere else. The local police did a sweep and they didn't find anything either."

"You mind if we take a look?" Booth was anxious to see if there were any clues on that boat - especially since they'd found Natalie Chilikuri in a wetsuit.

"Sure." Josh shrugged his shoulders.

Booth's hand moved of its own volition to the small of Bones' back as she stepped aboard before him. He trusted that her mind and his gut would find any clue the local police had missed that might be evidence that Matt just might have been responsible for Natalie Chilikuri's death. The fact that his yacht was in port and he was nowhere to be found led him to believe that the young man might just be laying low, or had caught the ferry to it's furthest point north of the border.

Brennan's eyes quickly catalogued and then dismissed a half a dozen items as she moved through the main cabin. As she turned and moved into the galley, she stopped. "Booth."

He immediately came to stand right beside her, only slightly aware that Josh was trailing behind them. "What do you have, Bones?" He glanced around looking for something obvious, but then realizing that she was seeing something that only she would have noticed.

She pointed at a speargun, propped up in the corner near a door leading to the deck. A tool like that was generally used underwater while diving. "That could explain the odd shaped puncture wound. I won't know until Angela can run a simulation." She was fully prepared to take the speargun with them, but she glanced over at Booth.

Booth turned and looked at Josh. "Do you have a problem if we take the speargun?" He narrowed his gaze slightly as he noticed a shift in the young man's body language.

"Don't you need a warrant or something for that?" Josh had his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his shorts.

"Do we need a warrant?" Booth looked at the young man and immediately wanted to know what he was hiding.

"I'd feel more comfortable, I mean it's Matt's speargun and he would be really mad at me if I let you just take, you know." His expression was somber.

"Okay, we'll be back with a warrant then." Booth glanced over at Bones without a word passing between them. Under other circumstances he might push the issue, but his gut was telling him that putting him under surveillance while they secured the warrant was going to be a much better idea. There was something about Josh Conner that he just didn't trust and he wanted to make sure that everything was done by the book in case what his gut was telling him turned out to be the truth.

It wasn't until they were back in the SUV that Brennan finally asked him what she'd been wanting to know for the last few minutes. "Do you think he's hiding something?"

"Yes, I do." He nodded as he flipped open his phone and dialed someone who had promised to help if he needed anything.

* * *

Agent Darnell Sims promised that as soon as he secured the warrant that he'd fax it to them at the Anacortes Police Department. In the mean time, the Chief of Police had suggested that they go grab coffee and she'd bring the warrant to them - one of her detectives was keeping his eye on Josh. It seemed that local law enforcement was rather familiar with Josh Conner, not that he'd ever done anything overtly illegal, but he certainly had a attitude of entitlement and disrespect towards authority.

"I'm just saying that fried foods are not healthy." Brennan was walking quickly to catch up to Booth who seemed to only be walking faster the more she share her health insights.

"Donuts by definition aren't healthy, however, Chief Williams is meeting us here." He gestured towards the pinkish-purple house that had a big sign outside announcing that it was The Donut House. "She assured me that these were the best donuts on the planet."

"It would be impossible to make that determination unless you had in fact tasted a donut from every establishment that makes donuts." Opinions about food were purely subjective.

Booth let out a chuckle and stopped abruptly and turned - a smile spreading across his face as Bones literally ran into him. It gave him a good excuse to wrap his arms around her. "It's an expression." And with that he leaned down and kissed her, just in case she started talking about clogging arteries and erectile dysfunction.

As they pulled apart a few pleasant moments later, she had a teasing grin on her face. "You realize that we can't get into the habit of doing this while we're in the middle of an investigation."

"Oh, I don't know." Booth teased right back with a smirk. "I'm sure that no one would mind." He was sure that just about everyone would mind, but he wasn't about to do anything that might jeopardize a case.

"Well Angela probably wouldn't mind, but I'm sure that your colleagues at the FBI would mind and so would Cam." She wanted to be sure that he was clear that despite her tone and expression that they couldn't actually make out at crime scenes, not that death and decay were conducive to feeling amorous anyway.

He laughed. "Well there's nothing to say that all that late night paperwork is off limits." There were lots of other things that he hoped weren't off limits late at night, but he wanted to pace himself. The last thing he wanted to do was to cross the point of no return only to find that she wanted to back up and change her mind. His heart was into this way too deep to recover from something like that.

She waggled her eyebrows at him in an attempt to look sexy, but it came out looking silly instead. "I'll look forward to paperwork then."

Booth pressed a kiss to her forehead and settled his arm around her shoulders as he turned them towards the donut shop. "You're priceless, Bones, you know that?" He'd almost confessed that he loved her. "Now let's go get some of these amazing donuts."

Brennan easily fell in step with him as they walked up the stairs into the crowded donut shop. "I am prepared to use my subjective pallet to form an opinion about the donuts." They certainly smelled good.

"Subjective pallet?" He snorted out a laugh as they got in line. "Just let your taste buds do the walking."

"The flavor receptors on your tongue don't have legs - they can't actually walk." She knew she was being far too literal and she knew she almost had him until she cracked a smile and found him smiling in return. This new relational development between them definitely felt far more natural than she'd expected.

Booth rolled his eyes and shook his head and couldn't resist stealing one more kiss just before they made it to the front of the line.


	14. Chapter 14

The warrant hadn't taken very long to obtain considering they weren't in DC. Chief Williams had it in hand when she walked into the Donut House. Booth and Brennan were seated at one of the picnic tables scattered about outside the crowded establishment.

"If you need help executing that warrant, I'd be happy to help." The Chief looked all the part of someone's mom who would be happy baking cookies in her time off, but she also gave off an air of being a cop that you didn't want to mess with if you were breaking the law. She eased herself onto the bench next to Brennan and smiled warmly at the pair.

"I'd appreciate that." Booth looked over the warrant and noted that the scope was bigger than he'd asked. He knew when it was advantageous to use local law enforcement - they were often a better predictor of how a suspect was going to act when you confronted them, and right now, his gut was telling him that Josh Conner was suspect number one.

"Between us, I've had my suspicions about him, but nothing concrete to go on." She glanced over at Brennan. "No one in this area has your expertise or your resources so I'm really glad you're here."

"Thank you. I am the best and so is my team." It wasn't an arrogant statement, just a fact that Brennan was at the top of her field and that her team was the best in the country - the FBI contracted to use them after all. "I am anxious to test that spear gun we saw for evidence of blood."

The Chief nodded. "You understand that when we did our search before, it was strictly a missing persons case at that point, we didn't have reason to search for a potential murder weapon."

Booth nodded. "Well, if there's anything to find on that boat, Bones will find it."

The Chief smirked, the corners of her mouth fighting a twitch into a smile at the confidence that Agent Booth seemed to have in his partner. "I've taken the liberty to pull his financial and phone records - we should be able to get those to you in a few hours."

Booth definitely appreciated the thoroughness of this law enforcement professional. "Thanks." Clearly she shared his opinion that Josh Conner was hiding something pertinent to their investigation and it was well within their purview to expand the scope of the warrant if they had reasonable cause - and it didn't hurt if the judge agreed with them either.

"While these are exceptionally good donuts, I think we should examine the boat." Brennan wasn't naive to think that she and Booth were done talking about the new development between them before things went any further and the sooner they solved their case, the sooner they could focus a bit on what was happening between them.

The Chief smiled. "I'll get a few officers and meet you back out there." It was going to give her a great deal of pleasure to assist with this particular search.

"Great." Booth's smile was broad as the Chief got up and headed back to her squad car.

"She seemed very friendly." Brennan didn't think that the woman was actually hitting on Booth - she was clearly at least ten years older than him and the ring on her hand indicated that she was married, but that hadn't stopped other women from playing up to his alpha male attributes.

"I don't think she likes this Josh Conner very well." He wasn't even going to touch on the fact that Bones seemed a tiny bit jealous.

* * *

Josh Conner did not look at all thrilled to find that Special Agent Seeley Booth had in fact returned with a warrant, along with what seemed to be half of the Anacortes Police Department. And the fact that he had to stand out on the dock while they searched the boat, further irritated him.

"There's blood, Booth." The spear gun had in fact proven to have traces of blood. She placed it in an evidence bag and handed it to one of the officers who were standing by to help.

"The question is, is this the crime scene? She was wearing a wetsuit, so it's possible that she was shot in the water." Of course, it would have been very difficult to retrieve the spear from their victim in the water without quite a struggle, unless of course, Matt Conner was in on it somehow.

"If they were in the water, we probably wouldn't have found trace blood evidence on the spear. That's human blood. The question is, where on the boat was she shot." Of course they weren't sure that it was in fact Natalie Chilukuri's blood, but it was very likely her blood.

"Good point, Bones." He used his own investigative skills as he poked around the yacht looking for anything that might provide a clue that would help them solve the murder of the young woman. A simple turn of a cushion in the master stateroom opened up another whole Pandora's box.

A small crack in the platform of some built-in seating suggested that perhaps there were places to hide things that maybe you didn't want anyone to see. It didn't take much at all for Booth to jostle it loose, revealing more than enough motive for murder. "Whoa, this isn't just a little weekend of fun."

An officer who had been assisting with the search poked his head in to see what the agent had found. His eye widened and he let out a low whistle. "That is some load of BC bud."

Booth looked at him quizzically.

The young officer continued. "Local term for the pot that gets smuggled across the border. The growers have been looking for ways to get it through - building extra compartments in cars, stuff like that. For the most part, the drug dogs catch a lot, but clearly he's been meeting someone out in the San Juans."

From a quick glance, the street value of this stuff was worth well over a hundred thousand dollars - and on a vessel this size, there was always the possibility that there was more stashed in places they hadn't found yet. Booth's brow furrowed, they certainly had motive for murder if Natalie hadn't known about it, or if she'd known about it and wanted a bigger cut of the deal. Either way, his gut had been right on about Josh Conner. He only wished that they knew where Matt Conner was.

"Booth." There was a distinct tone in Brennan's voice that she only got when she found something big.

"Yeah, Bones." He moved towards her voice, noting the expression on her face as she gestured to the floor of a second stateroom where the carpet had been peeled up to reveal a very stained pad underneath.

"Blood. Lots of blood." She glanced up with a look that held both satisfaction and sadness. "I think this is where she was killed."

"Good work, Bones." He felt a flash of anger as she turned and purposefully headed out to where Josh Conner was standing. He narrowed his eyes at the young man as he gestured to the veteran cop who was standing next to him. "Josh Conner, you're under arrest for the Natalie Chilikuri. Officer, read him his rights."

The burly cop quickly cuffed the young man as he Mirandized him.

"It's not my fault. I didn't do anything wrong." Josh's protests fell on deaf ears as he was lead back up the dock to an awaiting police cruiser.

Brennan came to stand next to Booth, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched. "We still can't place him on the boat - it's Matt's boat."

"Yeah, but we can't find Matt, and if Josh had nothing to hide, we wouldn't have had to get a warrant - he knew something, even if it was just about the pot." Booth knew they weren't done, but they could get a little more help tearing that boat apart from top to bottom. The Homeland Security and D.E.A. guys would take a great deal of pleasure at being called in on something this big. He wasn't a narcotics investigator after all - he was investigating a murder.


	15. Chapter 15

An FBI forensic team that had come up from Seattle and was still going over the yacht with the proverbial fine tooth comb when a call came through from the Jeffersonian. A few minutes later Brennan connected via her laptop for a video conference out of the back of the SUV.

Cam had news that seemed like a foregone conclusion. "Your victim is definitely Natalie Chilikuri. Cause of death most likely a stab wound. The weapon was probably something long and cylindrical, but so far we having found anything close to a possible type of match." She had theories, but without the benefit of an actual weapon to compare it to she didn't have much to go on.

"We found a spear gun with human blood on it." Brennan was confident that it was in fact the murder weapon, although she wasn't as certain that there would be any fingerprints on it to connect it directly to their suspect - the blood had been wiped off, but not well enough to keep phenolphthalein from picking it up.

"And we've got a forensic team from the state crime lab going over what we believe is the scene of the murder." Booth hoped that there would be enough forensic evidence to firmly tie Josh Conner to the murder that he'd just arrested him for. At the very least, they could charge him with drug possession and trafficking while they continued to build a case against him with forensic evidence.

"Well, a spear gun would make sense. Of course we'll have to do verification to be sure, but it could certainly explain the wound." Cam continued. "Any suspects?" She was a cop at heart and wanted to nail whatever bastard could do something like this.

"Got one in custody." Booth interjected.

"We're collecting evidence that may tie him to both crimes." Brennan didn't want to jump to conclusions - he certainly appeared to be guilty, but looking guilty didn't hold up in a court of law.

"Both crimes? What other crime?" Cam's interest was piqued.

"Drug running. Apparently, it's big money to smuggle bricks of marijuana from Canada. So far they've estimated that there's over a quarter of a million dollars worth at street value." Booth could definitely see that as a motive for murder. "We've got the brother of the boyfriend of our victim. The boyfriend is missing."

"So he could either be in on it or maybe he's another victim." Cam didn't envy their task, but certainly believed that they would get to the bottom of it and solve the case.

"Either way, we don't know where he is, so we're going to have to rely on the evidence." Brennan knew that there wasn't much more that they could do until the forensic team was done.

"Keep me posted." Cam clicked off and Brennan shut the laptop.

Booth had an eyebrow raised as he studied her. "We probably have time to go check out of our hotel." Before the call with Cam, he'd been talking to one of the detectives who had worked Matt Conner's missing person's case and he'd been given a great deal of information that he wanted to follow up on.

"Why would we want to check out of our hotel?" She looked a bit confused. They weren't even close to wrapping things up and they definitely needed a place to sleep tonight.

Booth hooked his thumb towards where he'd been standing a few minutes earlier. "Detective Roberts gave me a few people to check out that might be able to give us a little insight into the brothers. The thing is, we need to catch a ferry to one of the islands and we probably won't be able to get back tonight." It was a twenty-five minute drive back to their hotel and there were only a couple more ferry runs from Anacortes out to the island they needed to get to. As it was, they were going to get into San Juan Island late enough that they might have to wait until morning to track down the first lead.

"What about the evidence?" She wanted to make sure that everything was shipped to the Jeffersonian. While she was sure that the FBI forensic team that had been dispatched was qualified, they weren't _her_ team.

"They'll send it all to DC. Don't worry." He smirked at her. He had already talked to the FBI forensics team lead that they needed to make getting all of the evidence shipped to the Jeffersonian as quickly as possible.

"I'm not worried, I just want to make sure that the directions are clear. This is _our_ investigation after all." She smirked back. At least there were no more remains to ship and she supposed that the forensic techs were adequate enough to take care of the task.

* * *

They managed to get back to Anacortes in time to catch the second to the last ferry of the day to San Juan Island. Not being a direct run, they were stopping at the other three islands on the route before they got to their destination, which meant that they had about two hours of sailing before they would arrive. With nothing case related to do, they found themselves walking around the deck, taking in the amazing scenery. As they sailed along, a pair of wooden chairs beckoned from a bluff in front of a waterfront home and boats dotted private docks.

"This is very peaceful out here." There was a hint of amusement in Brennan's eyes as she glanced towards a couple of young boys who were chasing each other around the perimeter of the ferry. "Wild children aside."

Booth let out a soft chuckle as he leaned his arms along the railing next to her and nudged her with his shoulder. "It is peaceful out here." Away from the hubbub of DC, this _was_ very peaceful. And it was also a very good place for them to resume that conversation that he felt hadn't been completely resolved. Here there really wasn't the danger that he'd allow himself to get carried away by kissing her - well too much anyway - he found her terribly hard to resist now that he knew she _wanted_ him to kiss her.

Her eyes flicked to him and then back to the water, she could tell that he had something weighty on his mind and she reasoned that he'd tell her when he was ready. It wasn't as if she wasn't expecting it either and she smiled.

He let out a sigh and offered a serious smile. "I want to know, need to know really, that we're on the same page about what's going on between us."

She nodded and looked into his eyes. "I think we both feel something - I think it's obvious we both want each other in a physical sense, but it goes deeper than that. Even I can tell that the connection we have defies what I have experienced in previous relationships." Not that some of them she'd even call relationships when she felt that they were more of a convenience to meet a need rather than having come out of something deeper. Something like this emotional bond that had been forged with Booth.

He was going to lay all of his cards out on the table - he'd been holding back for too long and she needed to understand just how far his heart was in this thing before they took _that_ step and his heart was left completely crushed if she happened to change her mind. His eyes found hers again and he couldn't help but smile at her. "I love you, Bones. I'm _in love_ with you. I know that your definition of love has to do with chemicals and endorphins, but you need to know that I'm hopelessly in love with you and I can't go into this without you knowing that I don't know if I can survive unscathed if you rationalize all of this away as just a response to biological urges if you get scared." It wasn't perfect, but it was how he felt. As his words hung out there waiting for her to say something, he felt as if the world stopped spinning for a moment.

Brennan felt a swelling inside her chest and if it were possible, a lump seemed to have formed in her throat as she let his words soak in before she spoke. "I feel something for you that I can't explain with science, Booth. It isn't rational at all." She let out a laugh that was part amazement and disbelief. "I feel as if there is a part of me that can't live without you - that if I lost you that I wouldn't be able to breathe again - that I wouldn't want to breathe." Her tone was a soft whisper of breath as she continued. "No one makes me feel the way you do, Booth, no one has _ever_ made me feel the way you do. I don't know if that meets your criteria for love, but that's how I feel."

"Oh, Bones." He leaned in and softly kissed her. She might not think she knew what love was, but at that moment, Booth was sure that she was in this just as deeply as he was.


	16. Chapter 16

A deputy from the San Juan County Sheriff's department was waiting for Booth and Brennan as they pulled up in front of the department's headquarters. The crinkles around his eyes as he smiled belied his youthful appearance as he shook hands with both of them and introduced himself. "Name's Deputy Jeff Taylor. Sheriff would have met you himself, but it's his anniversary and he and his wife had reservations at Coho's."

"What's Coho's?" Brennan quizzed the young man.

"One of the best restaurants on the island. Most of the time you need reservations, but it's worth it. I took my wife there the night I proposed." Deputy Taylor's grin was infectious.

"Detective Roberts said that you could get us in touch with a couple of Matt Conner's friends." Booth was hoping that they could talk to whoever these friends were sooner rather than later. Progress on this case was sadly lacking until they go the results on the forensic evidence.

"Yeah, Shayla Winters and Ken Green work out at Whale Watch Park, but I doubt you'd find them there this time of day." The deputy gestured toward the setting sun.

"Do they live somewhere nearby?" Brennan knew that Booth was anxious to talk to them.

"Sort of." Deputy Taylor shrugged. "Depending on the day of the week, they're staying in different places, pretty much wherever they can bum a couch or spare room."

"So they're homeless?" Booth was slightly perplexed.

"No, just don't want to have to go all the way back to Anacortes or Bellingham every night since they have to be back out at the park by dawn. Both of them are working on their doctorates in Marine Biology and they're studying the local Orca population." He seemed very familiar with the pair.

"Did you know Matt Conner or Natalie Chilukuri?" He could at least see if the deputy knew anything that might be of value.

"You get to know anyone who spends a lot of time on the island. I sort of figured that something happened to them when they both went missing. I guess I was right about Natalie at least." He shook his head somberly.

"So they spent a lot of time out here then." Brennan just wanted to confirm what the deputy seemed to be saying.

"Just about every weekend - a yacht like Matt's sort of stands out even out here. They were both in the marine biology program at Western and I think they were helping Shayla and Ken. And it was probably a good excuse to get a little couple time too." He let out a knowing chuckle.

"Are you sure they'll both be out at this whale watch park in the morning?" Booth sounded a little skeptical.

"Yep." The deputy nodded. "I took a spin out there before you got here and they'll be expecting you." He handed Booth a map with the location of the park circled. He cocked his head a little as an idea occurred to him. "You could probably ask around at the coffee shop down near the ferry dock about Matt and Natalie - I know that both kids frequented it and someone there might be able to give you more information, or know more of their friends."

"Okay, I could use a cup of coffee." Booth was going to get a little investigation in after all. "What do you say, Bones, we should probably find a hotel." Booth really hoped that there was something on the island that his per diem would cover - although he was very doubtful.

The deputy interjected. "Already got you squared away. My wife works at Tucker House Inn near the ferry dock and she had a last minute cancellation and she assured me that she could get you a special law enforcement rate." If he got these two squared away, he might just get a chance to get a quick dinner break with the woman in question.

"Oh, that sounds good." Brennan wasn't going to inquire as to whether the reservation was for one room or two. She was more than interested in sharing a bed with Booth - she supposed that it was more than likely that he would be the one that might suggest that they weren't ready.

Booth glanced over at her for a brief moment and felt his heart thud in his chest. "Does this coffee shop have good food?" He had a feeling that if he and Bones had to share a hotel room that all of his intentions of exercising self restraint at least for a little while longer would just flutter away without so much as a backward glance.

"You'd be better off seeing if you could get into a sit down place." A sly grin spread across the deputy's face. "You might even be able to get into Coho's if you don't mind waiting a little bit."

"If the food is as good as you say it is, I'd be willing to wait." Brennan smiled and then glanced over at her partner. "What do you think, Booth? Should we get settled into the hotel or get a cup of coffee first?"

"Hotel." Booth hoped that he didn't sound too eager to see just what accommodations they'd have for the night. He couldn't help but glance over at her only to find that she was glancing away. He let out a soft chuckle - he was acting like a love struck teenager.

"Alright then, I'll let you be then. I've got rounds to make, I'm the only one on duty tonight, but if you need anything, give me a call." Deputy Taylor handed Booth his card before he turned and headed towards his rugged SUV - giving a wave before he climbed into the rig.

* * *

"When Jeff told me that you were here along with Agent Booth, I was so excited that we had a suite open." Deputy Taylor's wife Anne was apparently one of Brennan's biggest fans. As she checked them in and then personally showed them to the extra large suite with a pullout couch, she seemed to gush at how much she just loved all of her books.

"We are partners, so it's logical that I came with Booth. Especially since my skills as a forensic anthropologist were required." Brennan was always a little uncomfortable when people fawned over her books. Her writing was merely a hobby, an outlet that had become quite profitable.

"We'll make sure you get an autographed copy of her latest book." Booth found the whole situation amusing. He was only surprised that she hadn't asked if he was the inspiration for Andy Lister.

"Oh, that's not necessary, I mean I already have all of your books, but if you might be willing to sign one, that would be nice. But I don't want to put you out. Especially since you're here on police business." Anne Taylor seemed momentarily embarrassed as she opened the door to the room and handed Dr. Brennan the key.

"I'd be happy to sign your books." Brennan smiled as she glanced around the spacious suite.

"Only if you have the time. I'd never hear the end of it from Jeff if I kept you from your police work." Anne smiled and then excused herself, shutting the door behind her as she left.

"This is nice." Booth immediately honed in on the leather sofa that was supposed to house the foldout couch. He was doing his best to not think about the nice spacious comfy looking king sized bed.

Brennan sank down next to him and smirked. "It is nice." She pressed a soft kiss against his mouth and felt him hesitate. She pulled away, her eyes catching his. "You're unsure about sharing a bed with me."

He swallowed hard as he looked into her eyes. "I'm not unsure about you, Bones. No way am I unsure about you." How could he possibly tell her that as much as he wanted her that he really wasn't sure they should take this step right now - let it sink in a little that all of this was really happening and then he could wine and dine her and let her know how much he loved her first.

"But you feel compelled to place a constraint upon yourself when it's very clear that neither one of us has had any issue with engaging in a sexual relationship before." She wanted to understand what it was that was holding him back. Surely he knew that she knew how he felt about her, maybe it was her feelings that were unclear to him.

He let out a sigh of disappointment. "Bones."

She interrupted him. "Booth, I may not articulate it perfectly, but I know that what is happening between you and I is a big deal. I know you, and I can't help but think that you want to make everything perfect, but I don't need perfect. I just need you. Do you understand that?"

Booth felt his heart pounding - Bones didn't like to admit that she needed anyone and he felt a smile spreading across his face as he continued to look at her intently. "I love you." He pointed at his chest. "With all of my heart, I love you."

Brennan felt the corners of her mouth pulling up into a smile of her own. "And I think I would have to conclude, based on the evidence that I love you." With those words she felt as if her heart had flown free of her chest.

He enveloped her in a hug and let out a chuckle. "I love you." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then pulled her to her feet.

"Where are we going?" In her mind, she assumed that her confession of love would have naturally led right on over to the bed. She looked at him in confusion as she found him pulling her towards the door instead.

"We have a murder to solve." He definitely wanted her - there was no question at all about that fact, but there were a few things that they needed to take care of first - starting with questioning a few people down at the local coffee shop, and hopefully ending with a nice dinner and some quality time alone with Bones.


	17. Chapter 17

Shelly, the young woman behind the counter at the coffee shop, was more than willing to talk all about Matt and Natalie, and then offered up a golden nugget about Josh. "I mean, I thought he was totally hot at first until I picked up this creepy vibe from him. It's amazing he's even related to to Matt, you know." She looked expectantly from Booth to Brennan and back again.

Booth nodded thoughtfully as he waited for her to continue, he'd hardly had to flash his badge and show her a picture of Natalie before she started to give them far more details than they'd asked for. Clearly she was not CIA material.

"No, we don't know, that's why we're asking you." Brennan seemed a little befuddled at why the girl would think they already knew what she knew.

Booth smiled and gently cut her off as he addressed Shelly. "How exactly did he creep you out?"

Shelly's face scrunched together a little. "Well he didn't tip at all, not that everyone does. But he kept looking at my chest and he smelled like weed." She wrinkled her nose up at the memory. Clearly she hadn't been impressed and she'd crossed him off of her hottie list immediately. "Plus he seemed like he was more interested at going after Natalie when Matt wasn't looking."

"Did you ever notice Matt or Natalie smelling like weed?" Brennan assumed that if they had, there would be some tie in to the bales of marijuana that had been found on the yacht.

Shelly shook her head in earnest. "No way. They were more interested in clean living - being one with the Orcas and fish, that sort of thing. Anything that might impede their ability to dive was an absolute taboo."

"Did Natalie seem receptive of his advances?" Booth's opinion about Josh being a first class dirtbag just seemed to be solidified even more. "Did Josh come out here with them often?"

"The last few months, yeah, he was here almost every time they were - I guess he was learning to dive, but come to think of it, he came out here a few times after both Matt and Natalie disappeared. I guess maybe he was trying to figure out what happened to them. He certainly had a nice enough boat to do the looking in, that's for sure." Shelly had a thoughtful expression on her face as if she was trying to decide if she'd remembered everything accurately.

"Where exactly did he moor the boat?" Brennan reasoned that if Josh had been out here often, he would have had to have had a place to tie up to and there would have to be a record of it somewhere.

Shelly was quick to answer and she pointed in the general direction of the door. "Well the only public place to tie up to is the marina next to the ferry dock. I don't think they had a slip anywhere else on the island, because you'd have to rent a scooter or take a shuttle to get anywhere if you didn't bring your car over on the ferry."

"Shelly, you have been very helpful." Booth smiled and plopped a couple of dollars in her tip jar.

"Oh, thanks." She took note of the generous tip - it was almost equivalent of what the two cups of drip coffee that he'd bought had cost. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."

"We will." Booth flashed his best charm smile and slipped his arm around Bones' waist and started propelling them towards the door.

"Were we done questioning her?" Brennan thought maybe they should have seen if Shelly knew anyone else they could talk to.

"Yes." He offered her a soft smile as they stepped outside of the coffee shop. "Although now I'd like to find out just how many times Josh has been out here in that yacht by himself."

"Especially since he said that he hadn't been on the boat at all since Matt disappeared." She looked at him with a conspiratorial smile.

"I think after we talk to Shayla and Ken tomorrow, we should see if there's a harbormaster to check in with." Booth hoped that there would be a logbook somewhere that would confirm Shelly's account that Josh had been out to the island repeatedly on the boat since his brother and Natalie had disappeared.

"Why don't we do that tonight?" As long as they were investigating, it only made sense to her that they should continue.

He let out a low chuckle. "Because it's getting late and I'm hungry." He didn't think anyone would be able to tell them anything at the marina given that the sun was hanging pretty low in the sky.

"I could eat." Her smile widened as she felt Booth's hand at the small of her back.

* * *

"Deputy Taylor was right, the food is very good." Booth was more than pleased that they'd managed to walk into Coho's and get a table without much of a wait - apparently whoever had cancelled their reservation at the last minute at the hotel had done the same at the restaurant.

"And they use local organic produce." Brennan popped a bite in her mouth.

"I don't really taste the difference." He only hoped that she didn't bring up a study she'd once quoted to him about what non-organic produce might do to his manhood - especially in the middle of a restaurant.

"And all of the fish they serve is sustainable." She sounded like a commercial for an environmental interest group.

Booth reached across the table and enveloped her hand in his. "It's good. This is good." He grinned at her, just glad that they finally had a quiet moment to just enjoy each other's company before he had to decide whether or not he was going to share that bed with her. All of the willpower in the world was giving way to the desire that he'd had to shove down and squash with every fiber of his being for too long. Now that he knew that she loved him too, he wasn't sure he could do that any more.

She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "The food isn't the only thing that's good." She most definitely wanted Booth and she was going to make sure that he knew it. It made no sense to her whatsoever given how well they knew each other that he should feel compelled to wait out of some sense of chivalry.

He smirked. "Are you saving room for dessert?" They were almost done with their meal and he wanted to savor this time with her as long as possible.

"I don't think I need dessert after a meal like this." She was quite full and besides, she had other ideas about what she wanted for dessert.

* * *

They had just gotten back to their hotel room and Booth had stopped in front of the fold out couch with his hands on his hips considering if he should insist on sleeping there when he felt a pair of arms wrapping around his waist and a pair of lips pressing against the back of his neck. He let out a low chuckle. "Bones."

"You haven't kissed me all evening." There was a hint of a petulant whine in her voice, but she was completely correct about her assessment and she planned to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

"A complication of the job." He turned to face her, and his eyes danced as he looked at her and as he leaned in and kissed her, he felt his t-shirt being tugged upwards. Clearly Bones had more than kissing on the brain.

"Now is not the time to compartmentalize." She managed to get the sentence out between kissing him and trying to get the shirt over his head. This would be so much easier if he would simply help.

His lips cut her off and his arms came around her waist and pulled her closer so he could deepen the kiss. He was obviously _not_ spending the night on that couch, not with the way her hands seemed intent on memorizing every nuance of his chest.

She pushed him away long enough to pull her own shirt over her head, pleased when she noticed his pupils darken as he looked at her. Who knew that a comfortable boring cotton bra would hold so much sex appeal?

"So beautiful." Booth wanted to slow this down, he wanted to remember every little moment.

Brennan had other ideas as her hands went to his belt and she mumbled against his lips. "Trust me, I'm sufficiently aroused. Just need to get clothes off." She'd had years of admiring his physique and she had to admit that she'd fantasized about him far more than was probably appropriate for someone who was supposed to have been just her partner until this trip.

The fire in his kiss seemed to burst into a raging inferno - if getting him naked was her goal, well he would get as naked as she wanted. In fact, he'd do better than naked if that was possible. His pants hit the floor in a whisper and after a brief battle with his shoes and socks, he took her hand and let her lead him towards the bed.


	18. Chapter 18

This was definitely _not_ how Booth had envisioned his first time with Bones. In his mind, he would take the lead and things would go nice and slow so she'd really understand what making love was all about. She seemed to have entirely different ideas. Almost as soon as they reached the bed he'd found himself flat on his back wearing nothing but his utilitarian white boxers with her perched on his thighs and a sexy smirk adorning her face. There was a bit of amusement in his tone as he looked up at her, finding the simple cotton ensemble she was wearing as sexy as any black lace set he'd ever seen. "Bones, are we a little eager?"

"I didn't want there to be any awkwardness actually getting into the bed." Her reply was matter of fact as she splayed her hands out across his chest and leaned in towards him. She clearly knew what she wanted.

"I'm not a prude you know." He'd been with enough women to know how to do this - it wasn't his first time and he wasn't an inexperienced horny teenage boy. He was simply a horny sexy FBI agent who wanted to enjoy every little moment of what was unfolding between them.

"Well you had seemed rather reticent about sharing a bed with me. I wanted to make sure you weren't going to change your mind at the last minute." Her words hovered over his mouth for a moment before she leaned in and pressed her lips against his with a sigh.

Booth's fingers wound into her hair as he deepened the kiss - the feel of her pressed against him completely intoxicating. He was content to take this nice and slow - they had all night after all. His fingers trailed down her back, intent on teasing her a little bit as he skipped over the clasp on her bra.

She broke off the kiss and began to nibble along his jawline. "With your musculature, I would hope that you have a great deal of stamina." She had observed his gluteal muscles enough to know that he possessed great maneuverability and strength and with his abdominal region so well developed, she was sure that he would prove to be an excellent lover.

His hands had found the curve of her ass and he leaned up and whispered in her ear. "New rule, no squinty-talk in bed, Bones." Not that he didn't find it sexy, but he did not need her questioning his stamina before he'd had an opportunity to show her exactly why she was going to forget her own name by the time they were finished.

She laughed against his throat. "Would you prefer that I talk dirty?" That was not something that she'd expected from Booth at all, but if that was what turned him on, she was happy to lace her conversation with profanity.

The trill of a cell phone from somewhere across the room made its presence known.

"We can just ignore it." Booth mumbled against her neck.

"You should answer. It might be important." They were working on a case after all. Although ignoring was a very attractive option as well, especially given the way his lips ghosted over her earlobe.

"Probably a wrong number." He knew that wasn't the truth, but he didn't want to be interrupted and so he kissed her until the phone stopped ringing. The evening was still intact.

If he thought it was going to be that easy, that theory went right out the window when the phone trilled again.

She pulled back with a smirk on her face. "If you answer it, they'll stop calling you."

He had to admit that she had a point, but the phone had already stopped ringing. "See, all gone." He grinned at her.

It rang again.

"It appears that it's urgent." Brennan slid off of him and onto her side.

Booth huffed in frustration. "Fine. I'll answer it." He wasn't pleased as he pulled himself off of the bed and went in search of his jeans where he was pretty sure he'd find his phone. The phone had stopped ringing by the time he found it, but before he could even check to see who the missed calls were from it started up again. He answered, but he was distracted by the view of Bones laying on the bed, propped up on her elbows as she watched him. "Booth."

"_Agent Booth, this is Deputy Taylor. I'm sorry to bother you, but we've got a situation that you and Dr. Brennan are going to want to know about."_

Booth glanced over at Bones with one of those 'we've got a case' looks on his face. "What exactly is it?" He really hoped that whatever this was could wait until morning, but his gut was telling him that it wouldn't.

"_We've found a pretty severely decomposed body out by American Camp. I may jumping the gun a bit here, but if I was a betting man, I'd bet my next paycheck that it's Matt Conner."_

Booth let out a harsh breath and dropped his gaze to the floor. "Okay, we're going to need directions and a few minutes to get our things together." He quickly found something to write the directions Deputy Taylor gave him on and by the time he clicked off, Bones was standing next to him, all of that sexy covered back up in her jeans and t-shirt.

She was still shifting gears a little as she tried to smooth her hair out enough to pull it up into a ponytail. She looked up to find Booth looking at her and she couldn't help but smile. "I guess we'll have to finish that later."

"Finish?" He smirked. "We've hardly even started." He grabbed his jeans and slipped them on. He wanted to pull Bones in for another kiss, but he knew if he got started, that there was a damn good chance that they would be keeping the good deputy waiting all night.

She handed him his t-shirt. "I'm going to hold you to that." Now it was the time to compartmentalize.

He pulled his shirt on over his head and went looking for his socks. "Deputy Taylor thinks that they found Matt Conner's body."

"There's no way to tell that until we do a positive identification." It was logical to assume that if their services were needed that no conclusive identification had been made.

"That's why I said he _thinks_ that it's him." Booth rolled his eyes in spite of himself.

"We should hurry. I don't want anyone to compromise the crime scene." As much as she trusted that Deputy Taylor was a professional, she had no knowledge of his ability to secure a scene.

"It's probably a dump site, Bones." He was convinced that the crime scene itself was going to end up being that yacht. Once the blood evidence was processed and DNA comparisons made, they would know for sure.

"Just because it may not be the primary scene doesn't mean that we won't find valuable trace evidence." She slipped her shoes on and glanced over to see of Booth was ready to leave yet.

He couldn't help himself just then as he walked over and slipped his fingers into her hair and stole a long kiss. He pulled away with a smile. "If there is evidence to find, we'll find it. Because that's what we do."


	19. Chapter 19

"Who found the body?" Booth queried Deputy Taylor as he and Bones followed him down a trail through a grassy field. The sun was down and the flashlight the deputy had in his hand bobbed up and down as they walked.

"Couple of high school kids out here looking for a little time alone stumbled across it. Well off the path, which is probably why no one saw it before now." In the dim light he wrinkled his nose. "Or smelled it." Up ahead an area had been roped off with crime scene tape and work lights.

"Well, this certainly is an isolated spot, I can see why someone would want to come here to be alone." Off in the distance she could hear waves and concluded that it was probably a rather peaceful location.

"Bones, that's not the kind of alone he's talking about." Booth rolled his eyes, of everything the deputy had just said, she honed in on that and completely missed the actual meaning. And just the idea that someone else hadn't been able to have sex either made him feel just a little bit better.

It seemed to suddenly dawn on her what the deputy had meant. "Oh, _that_ kind of alone." She waggled her eyebrows. "Well in that case, they are very foolish for considering engaging in sexual intercourse out here. Grass like this would be a prime location for picking up ticks. Plus it wouldn't be very comfortable."

Deputy Taylor snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, well they've got a bit of explaining to do to their parents as it is, I'm pretty sure that'll only add fuel to the fire. If nothing else, it might keep them from trespassing on protected habitat."

"It's just a field." Booth didn't see anything special about a field full of grass, other than the fact that it came up nearly to his waist. Yes, he could see why this would be a very uncomfortable location to try and have sex - especially when he considered the nice comfy bed that he'd been trying to have sex with Bones in before they were so inconveniently interrupted by a call about a dead body.

"It's restored prairie. A lot of people don't know that before General George Pickett led his failed charge at Gettysburg, he was stationed here and helped settle the Pig War." Clearly these East Coasters didn't know _all_ of their American History.

"Now that was one they never covered in school." Booth wasn't a hundred percent sure that the deputy was telling him the truth. Gettysburg he was very familiar with - Pig War, not so much.

"The Pig War settled the border between the United States and Canada in the islands." Brennan remarked was very matter of fact.

"You're one smart lady, Dr. Brennan." Deputy Taylor was duly impressed, if she'd spouted off 'fifty-four, forty, or fight' he would have been bowled over.

"Yes, I am." She was glad that she'd insisted they bring her entire field kit, given how far the lights had been set apart, it appeared that the scene was spread out which made her anxious to see the condition of the body.

The deputy just shook his head in amusement and stepped aside as they reached the scene. A couple of police cadets that were probably still in high school had been tasked with watching the scene. It wasn't everyday that a dead body just turned up on San Juan Island.

Brennan stepped underneath the tape and approached the body before crouching down for a closer look. Without even looking back she held up her hand. "Booth, could you hand me..."

"A flashlight, no problem." He hadn't even let her finish her sentence and he seemed rather pleased by the fact. Now if they could just wrap up this case and get back to bed he would be a very happy man.

"Thank you." Booth's interruption hardly phased her and she definitely didn't notice the expression on Deputy Taylor's face as he observed the seamless interaction. "Male, early twenties. Caucasian. They hyoid is fractured and with this level of decomp, I'd estimate that he's been dead around the same amount of time as Natalie Chilukuri."

"So then it's Matt Conner." Booth tilted his head with his arms crossed.

"I didn't say that." Brennan was not given to conjecture or jumping to conclusions. "However, given the time of death, it is possible. We'll have to check dentals and run a DNA comparison to be sure."

"I'm pretty sure that's Matt Conner." The deputy tried not to breath through his nose as he leaned towards the body from a safe distance. "If you knew Matt any length of time, you were going to see him in that shirt." Even with the body decayed as much as it had, the pattern on the synthetic fabric of the soccer jersey could easily be seen.

"I would be more comfortable waiting until we can compare it with dentals." Brennan could appreciate that it was probably Matt Conner, however, science would tell them for sure.

"Of course." Deputy Taylor nodded his head.

"We're going to need a little more manpower out here. And I'm sure that Dr. Brennan is going to want to have the body transported to a location where she can do a more thorough examination. She'll also probably want to have all of the evidence we collect shipped to the Jeffersonian for further processing." Booth shifted into federal mode. This was their case, he didn't care about jurisdiction.

"There isn't an actual hospital here on the island, but we could probably get you set up in a room we've used for a morgue a few times down at the station." Of course that was going to require a few phone calls.

"Yes, that would be a good idea." Booth gestured towards the area beyond the body. "Has any looked for footprints? I would assume that given the hot weather you've been having that it's likely that whomever dumped the body here may have left trace evidence."

"So you don't think that the victim was killed here?" If he wasn't sure before, all doubt about this being a long night had just been removed for Deputy Taylor.

"Not likely." Booth had seen his fair share of crime scenes and this one seemed too neat to have been the place for a young man as fit as Matt Conner to give up without a massive struggle. "What are the chances that we can get additional help in here to process the scene?" He was sure that they would be here most of tomorrow too without more help.

"I've made some phone calls, but it'll be tomorrow late morning before they can get out here." Deputy Taylor almost felt bad about the fact that he'd called Agent Booth when it seemed he and Dr. Brennan had just turned in for the night.

"Once we secure the body in your morgue, it would probably be better to wait until we have daylight to completely process the scene, unless there is rain in the forecast." Brennan was sure that there was evidence they would miss if they processed in the dark and she wanted to make sure that they did this right.

Booth was a little surprised that she didn't want to work through the night, but he wasn't going to question it if it meant that they'd get to go back to the hotel soon. Just the idea that he wasn't going to have to wait much longer made him smile far bigger than he should this close to a dead body.

"Nope, no rain in the forecast all week. Probably a good idea to wait until we can see something. We'll certainly have to keep someone out here, but daylight would be extremely helpful especially considering how tall and thick the grass is." The deputy knew that since he was on duty, that he'd have to be the one to stick it out with the cadets unless he got another call.

"Alright. Well I'm going to need a body bag to start with." As soon as she had the body bag, she could begin the process of moving the remains. And as soon as they removed the remains and had them secured at the temporary morgue, she and Booth could get back to the hotel to finish what they'd started.

"Body bag!" Booth looked over at one of the cadets and gestured towards where the vehicles were parked. He didn't have to ask twice as one of them hit it on a run with flashlight in hand. "You need anything else, Bones?"

She spoke so softly that Booth was the only one who heard her. "Only you, Booth, only you."


	20. Chapter 20

"It wouldn't have taken that long, Booth." Brennan was trying to keep her voice down as Booth fumbled with the key to their room.

"_That long_? I know you, Bones. _That long_ would have taken all night and we still have to question people in the morning and go back and search the scene for more evidence." He knew her far too well when it came to her inability to recognize the passing of time when she had a pile of bones in front of her.

"I was merely wanting to do a preliminary examination to see if anything could be determined in better light." Surely he could appreciate that they were investigating a murder and the sooner they solved it the sooner they could enjoy a night together without any interruptions.

"Then you would have found something that you would have had to get Cam out of bed for and then the entire squint squad would be grumbling that you made them come into work early and by then it would be daylight and we wouldn't get any sleep because we have a full day as soon as the sun comes up." His tone was serious but had a slight edge of teasing in it and he couldn't hide the smirk playing across his mouth as he opened the door wide and let Bones go in ahead of him.

"That's a very rational argument." She had hoped to convince him otherwise, but clearly if they were well rested they would be better equipped to work the case. And then there was the issue of trying to finish what they'd started earlier. The corners of her mouth twitched into a mischievous smile.

"See, that's just how I am. Always the rational one." He winked and shut the door behind them.

She let out a disbelieving chuckle. "_I'm_ the rational one. _You're_ the emotional one."

"And you're also the smelly one with dead body goo on your clothes." Booth wrinkled his nose at her. "Ewe, and in your hair." Without coveralls the removal of the remains hadn't gone quite as cleanly as anyone would have hoped and Bones had gotten enough of their victim on her that he wasn't going to let her near the bed until she'd had a shower - at least if he was going to be sharing it with her.

"Decomposed flesh is not goo." She wasn't a fan of bodies that still had flesh attached, and while their victim had decomposed significantly in the unusually hot Pacific Northwest weather, the conditions had left a gelatinous mass of what had been their victim all over the clothing he'd been wearing. She only hoped that she'd be able to wash the residue out of her clothes rather than having to just throw them away.

"Whatever you want to call it, it stinks." Booth was tempted to kiss her anyway, at least until he got close enough to get a good whiff of it. Nope, she was definitely going to have to shower it out.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go take care of this." She gestured at the bed with what she hoped was a sexy grin on her face. "Why don't you get changed into something a little more comfortable."

"I'll do that." He smirked at her with admiration. "I just be out here, getting more comfortable."

"I'll be right back." Brennan grabbed a few things from her bag and then disappeared into the bathroom hoping that a quick shower would get everything out of her hair and that she could simply rinse out the clothes.

Booth wasted no time making himself more comfortable. He toed off his shoes and then peeled off his shirt. The shirt landed in the general direction of his suitcase and he frowned. Bones was very fastidious and there was no reason that he couldn't just fold things up while she was cleaning up. And so his t-shirt was neatly tucked away before he shucked off his jeans and folded those too - his cocky belt buckle sitting proudly on top. He briefly contemplated his socks and then decided that leaving them on just might make her laugh and he was sure that they needed a little levity to get things rolling.

He glanced over at the bathroom door and frowned. She seemed to be taking a long time. He glanced over at the bed and smiled. Well, he could at least get things ready. He turned on the light next to the bed and flicked off the overhead light and then plopped himself right on top of the comforter in his boxers and wild socks. Another glance at the bathroom door a few minutes later and he got back up and pulled the covers down and pushed one of the pillows up against the headboard and sank back down on the bed and leaned against it. He crossed his ankles and glanced over at the bathroom door again before crossing his arms over his chest hoping that she would hurry.

By the time Brennan emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a camisole and her panties, she noticed that Booth was sprawled out on the bed sound asleep. It had taken far longer to get the residue out of her clothes than she'd thought, but she was confident that she wouldn't have to throw them out, and she'd had to shampoo twice to get it out of her hair. She smiled as she walked over to the bed, shaking her head as she noticed his socks. As much as she found his wild socks very Boothy, there was no way that she was going to engage in intercourse with him while he had them on. He barely flinched as she peeled them off and then crawled up onto the bed next to him.

"Bones?" He sounded sleepy as he blinked his eyes open and he hoped it wasn't morning and he hadn't missed out on the best night of his life.

"You know, if you're too tired, we can just do this later." They had an early morning to look forward to and it was already well past midnight. As much as she wanted him, she reasoned that she could probably last another twenty-four hours.

"No! I was just taking a nap." No way in hell was he going to miss this.

She giggled and then let out a sigh, reach over and slipping her fingers through his hair. "If you're sure." She found his eagerness thrilling.

"Believe me, I'm sure." He reached over and flicked off the bedside light and then rolled towards her - his hand sliding across her waist as she faced him. She looked beautiful in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains.

Brennan had watched him under so many circumstances, but here in this place she felt a welling of emotion towards him. "I love you, Booth." The more she said the words, the more natural they felt tumbling across her lips.

"And I love you." He whispered it against her mouth as he leaned in and kissed her. He wanted her to know just how much he loved her - wanted to show her so that there would never be a doubt in her mind about his feelings for her.

"Why did you even bother with these?" She was nibbling along his jaw as her hand slid into the back of his boxers and squeezed his ass. He was definitely a fine example of an alpha male in all of his glory.

"I have no idea." He was beginning to question that himself, but then again, she had come out of the bathroom wearing a few too many clothes herself. "Why are you wearing these?" His hand slid up the front of her camisole and found heaven in his palm. Her skin was so soft and his lips ghosted across her neck.

"It was irrational, I'll admit." It wasn't like her to be irrational, but lately it seemed that it was happening more and more. "I could certainly correct the situation." And if she did that, then Booth would be able to touch her without the incumbrance of her clothing getting in the way and that idea sounded wonderful.

"Correct away." All he wanted was Bones with him naked in this bed so he could show her how breaking the laws of physics was possible.

"Mmm, okay." She wasn't sure she wanted him to let go of her long enough to do anything about the problem of too many clothes, but she was also a woman that knew what she wanted, and what she wanted was Booth. She could make a momentary sacrifice to get what she wanted if he could.

With a rustle and a whisper, the rest of their clothes hit the floor and Booth pulled the covers up over them as they came back together. This was their moment and nothing was going to take it from them.


	21. Chapter 21

Booth couldn't stop smiling. He lay there with his eyes closed enjoying just how amazing he felt as images of Bones looking all sexy and lusty and wonderful spooled through his mind. He was tempted to pinch himself to make sure what had happened was actually real, but he didn't want to move.

Brennan's smile was evident in her voice. "That was immensely satisfying. I had imagined that you would be very good in bed." She let out a soft chuckle as she rolled onto her side towards Booth. Her fingers trailed across his chest as she noted the rather pleased expression on his face in the dim moonlight. "I hope you found the experience satisfying as well."

"I'm in heaven." He just kept grinning as he soaked it all in. Bones was satisfied. Bones was naked. He was naked. He and Bones had just had sex. He was satisfied. Yes, he was definitely in heaven or dead or something he hadn't even thought of yet.

"I can assure you that you're not in heaven. This is a bed. You're not hallucinating are you?" She was suddenly worried that maybe the enthusiasm with which they had engaged in intercourse had cause stress upon his brain. She had allowed her lust to cloud her reasoning skills and now she felt responsible for his apparent confusion. As good as it had been, was it worth causing Booth to lose his mind?

Booth chuckled. "I'm not hallucinating. That is unless we didn't just have the most amazing sex and we're not actually naked in bed together." He did not dare open his eyes. If it was a dream, he didn't want to wake up - he'd already done that once and he didn't want to go through that again.

"Ah." A realization dawned on Brennan as she edged a little closer to him and whispered in his ear. "Then you are most definitely _not_ hallucinating. However, if you need to have more data to quantify the experience, then by all means, we can certainly attempt to repeat the variables." She was a scientist after all and she could understand the need to recreate something to verify the results.

Booth snorted out a laugh and opened his eyes as he reached for her and rolled against her, effectively pinning her against the mattress. His eyes were dark and his expression a bit predatory. "I'll show you variables." He had only started to show her all of what Special Agent Seeley Booth had to offer. He leaned in and kissed her, sighing against her mouth as he felt her hands slipping up his back and her thigh sliding up against his - her foot trailing up his calf along the way. Oh, yeah, he was definitely in heaven.

* * *

Sunlight filtering through the window and the sound of Bones talking on the phone pulled Booth from a deep sleep. As he blinked his eyes open he wondered to himself again for just a moment if he'd just dreamt it all. That is until the image of Bones sitting on the edge of the bed with the sheet pulled around her in a haphazard fashion filled up his view. The bare expanse of her back seemed to beckon his fingers to reach out and touch it.

"Thank you, Angela. I'll let Booth know." She glanced over her shoulder with a smile at the sensation of his fingertips against her skin. "Once you get the remains we're sending today, we'll need to have you check to see if the speargun was also responsible." She let out a soft laugh. "No, I haven't met any new hot guys. We're working a case, this isn't a social trip." The feel of Booth's hand snaking around her waist and his lips pressing against her hip caused her to feel the need to wrap up the call. "I need to go, Angela, we have some people we need to question today and I need prepare the remains to ship. Yes, I'll call later." She clicked off the call and slid her phone onto the table next to the bed.

"What did Angela have to say?" He hoped that the artist hadn't been able to sniff out the developments between him and Bones, not at least before they had a chance to enjoy it for a little while all by themselves. He let his fingers trail in lazy circles across her abdomen, teasing to slide either up or down, but never really getting anywhere at all.

"The speargun is in fact the murder weapon. However, DNA analysis showed that there were three different profiles - two of which had seven alleles in common." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of Booth's fingers and mouth traveling along her body.

"Indicating that they're related. So it's extremely likely that we're going to find that the two mystery donors are Matt and Josh Conner." As disturbing as this case was, at least they were making progress. And oh, he was making progress of an entirely different kind that he probably shouldn't be at the moment, not with a full day to get through ahead of them.

"Very likely. Both mystery donors as you put it are male." She wished for a moment that she could just fall back into his arms and make the case wait, but that wasn't very rational and right now they needed to focus on the task at hand.

"What time is it?" He hoped that they could spend a little more time in bed, but given the amount of light coming through the window and the fact that Angela had just called, he wasn't going to hold out too much hope.

"A little after seven." Her smile was slightly wicked as she turned her body and let him pull her in for a long kiss, resting her forehead against his as she pulled back. "We really do need to get up though."

"Yeah, that whole crime fighting duo thing we have going is kind of important." He winked at her but didn't let go. He looked into her eyes for a long moment. "Last night was wonderful." He hoped that it was the first of many nights that they would spend together for the rest of their lives. If he could convince her about the idea of forever that is.

"Yeah, for me too." She couldn't hide her adoration of him. One more kiss and she pulled away smiling.

Booth almost didn't have the willpower to get up, but he forced himself to. "I'm just going to go grab a quick shower." He considered that he really ought to make sure it was on the colder side as he rolled away from her and reached down and fished his boxers off the floor.

"You have a very well structured gluteal region." She couldn't help herself especially since he was giving her quite a view as he pulled his boxers up.

His grin was electric as he looked back at her. "And you are just beautiful - all of you is structured pretty amazingly." And now he knew firsthand.

**_Author's Note:_**_ Okay before anyone complains that there weren't enough details, please take note of the rating. With that in mind, I hope you enjoyed. Now, on with the rest of our story._


	22. Chapter 22

Brennan was dressed by the time Booth came out of the bathroom, and for that he was thankful because he was sure that it would have been difficult to get out the door if she was still lounging in bed looking so irresistible. He smiled because he could tell that she had her game face on. "You ready to go?"

"I believe if we meet Ken and Shayla out at the park and then stop back at the crime scene to ensure we gathered all of the evidence that I should have sufficient time for a preliminary examination of the remains before sailing back to Anacortes." She had checked on the ferry schedule while he was in the bathroom to help estimate their timeline.

Booth suppressed a chuckle at her ability to quickly compartmentalize the day in such a short amount of time. "We probably have time to grab a cup of coffee on the way."

"Actually, when I called about the ferry schedule, Anne Taylor told me that they had a continental breakfast downstairs. She offered to put together a few things for us since she knew we had a meeting this morning." She offered Booth a smile and felt a fluttering in her stomach that made her wonder how she'd ever thought this feeling she had towards Booth could be anything but love.

"Great." With nothing left to do but slip on his shoes and gather his gun and badge, he leaned over and pressed a light kiss against her mouth. "You're a great partner, Bones." And he meant that in every sense of the word - she was a great partner, in the field, in the lab, in his life, and now fully in his heart.

"As are you." She could do this. They could focus on the case and catch bad guys and they could love each other. It didn't seem complicated at all to her right now. At least not too complicated.

* * *

"Bacon and egg biscuits, yum." Booth was eagerly devouring part of the breakfast that Anne had sent them off with.

Brennan simply rolled her eyes. "All of that saturated fat is going to clog your arteries before you're forty if you keep eating like that." Not that she couldn't appreciate the value of a good breakfast, but pork in particular was something that she had a hard time even smelling, let alone eating. She was perfectly satisfied with the whole grain muffin that she'd plucked from the basket Anne had given them.

"Protein, Bones. It's a good source of protein." It was nice to know that they had fallen into their usual bickering so easily. He'd had a fear that after they'd been intimate that things might feel awkward, but why he'd worried at all was a mystery to him, especially since last night had felt so natural.

"There are other sources of protein that aren't as high in fat." She smirked, and glanced out the window. "We should almost be there according to the map." Lime Kiln State Park was on the opposite side of the island from Friday Harbor and was a wonderful vantage point for catching glimpses of the resident Orca pods, which was why the park was known as Whale Watch Park locally.

Sure enough, a few curves of the road later and a sign announced their arrival. The parking lot was mostly deserted which meant that the influx of tourists hoping for a glimpse of a whale hadn't really started for the day. Booth pulled in next to a well used Jeep and killed the motor. "Well let's hope that Ken and Shayla are easy to find."

"Didn't Deputy Taylor say that they were expecting us?" She stowed her coffee into one of the cup holders and reached for the door handle.

"Yes, but they aren't exactly standing right here now are they?" His tone was decidedly sarcastic and he smirked at her as he popped the door open.

Brennan had to double time her steps to catch up with him as he moved towards a path that directed them towards the water. As they wove through Madrona trees and low-lying brush they caught glimpses of the rocky shoreline. Off in the distance Lime Kiln Lighthouse peaked through the trees and as they came out onto the shoreline, they could see two people standing up the path next to the lighthouse.

Booth walked purposefully towards the pair, slowing his pace a little so Bones could fall into step beside him. He had his badge out even before the two near the lighthouse really noticed that they had company. "Ken Green and Shayla Winters?"

"Yeah." The petite blond woman offered a smile at the pair that had just walked up. She had been writing something on a reader board that apparently kept track of whale sightings in the area.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." He was sizing up these two to see what his gut might tell him and so far they seemed okay.

"Deputy Taylor said you'd be coming by." Ken offered his hand to shake. "Is it true what we've heard?" He looked very concerned. "Did they find Natalie and Matt?"

"We've confirmed the identity of Natalie Chilukuri, we haven't confirmed that the other victim is Matt Conner." Brennan offered, knowing that Booth would study their reactions and come up with some conclusion that she probably wouldn't have mongoosed out.

"What can you tell me about Josh Conner?" If Josh had been out here in the islands with Matt's yacht after he'd disappeared, these two would probably have noticed it.

"Man, Josh is a little on the buzzed side, you know. He more about weed than anything else. I think Matt was a little worried about him because all they had was each other and Josh seemed more interested in getting high than doing something with his life, especially after the market tanked. He lost most of what their dad left him and he just spiraled after that." Ken glanced over at Shayla as if he was waiting for her to chime in.

"They fought about it too." Shayla glanced over at Ken before she addressed Booth and Brennan. "The last time we saw Matt, he had a black eye. He didn't come out and say it, but I got the impression from Nat that he got it from Josh."

"Had they ever gotten into altercations before that you know of?" Booth was very interested in this little tidbit of information.

"Not that I know of, but Josh sure did seem jealous of Matt - he had a great boat and a great gal and Josh didn't really have anything to speak of. To tell you the truth, Josh isn't exactly a nice guy. He came around a few times after Matt and Natalie disappeared seeing if anyone had seen or heard anything - even took the boat out up into the Gulf Island's to see if maybe anyone on the other side of the border knew anything, but he was always giving off this shifty vibe." Ken looked worried. "Do you think Josh had something to do with their disappearances?"

"I can't really comment on an active investigation, but I can assure you that you've been very helpful." Booth was pleased that it seemed that they had the right man in custody, but his gut was telling him that when you threw in the bricks of marijuana that there was probably more to the story than just one brother being jealous of another.

"So you knew Matt and Natalie well then." Brennan had a gut feeling of her own that she wanted to try out.

Booth glanced at her with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, they were out here every weekend, pretty much everyday during the summer quarter, working towards the same thing we are." Shayla seemed stricken at the thought that her friends were really gone.

"So they had what you would consider a strong relationship." She continued to follow this gut feeling.

"They were talking about getting married. Not that Natalie's parents seemed overly thrilled about it." Ken let out a bit of a scoff. "I think they were worried if they got married that she wouldn't finish school."

"Would she have dropped out?" Brennan found the idea that anyone would give up an education in favor of a relationship when both were possible didn't make sense.

"No. She was passionate about marine biology. She was passionate about Matt too. She could have both. I just don't think they really understood that." Shayla was a modern woman and she understood.

"I don't think Josh was very thrilled about the idea of them getting married either though." Ken seemed to recall something and he knit his brows together as if he was trying to remember the details.

"Why do you say that?" Booth was very interested in hearing what he had to say.

"I think Josh had a thing for Natalie himself." Ken glanced over at Shayla before he continued. "He had a thing for women in general, but I overheard Matt and Natalie talking once about Josh making a pass at her. Matt was pretty pissed about it, but Natalie told him that she could take care of herself and that he shouldn't worry about it."

"Was Natalie trained in self defense techniques?" Brennan had honed her own marshal arts skills in order to make herself feel more secure in situations where carrying a weapon wasn't an option.

"Not that I know of, but one well placed kick in the right place will incapacitate most men, you know." Shayla had a knowing smirk on her face as she addressed Brennen.

"Yes, a kick in the groin can render a male assailant immobile long enough to make an escape." She nodded in agreement.

Both Booth winced and cleared his throat as he pulled out his card. "If you think of anything else you think might be helpful, give me a call. We've got to head back to Anacortes today, but you can call that number anytime night or day."

"Will do." Ken seemed to share in Booth's wince as he tucked the card into the pocket of his shorts.

"Were we done?" Brennan quizzed Booth as they walked back up the path towards the parking lot.

"We're done enough to know that Josh Conner is looking more and more guilty the longer we investigate this." Booth let his hand slip around her waist and glanced back at the water, making a mental note that this just might be a nice place for a crime free vacation sometime in the future.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Lime Kiln State Park (aka, Whale Watch Park) is one of my favorite places in the world - where else can you sit on shore and see Orcas close up as they swim past. I've gotten some amazing photos sitting on those rocks and I highly recommend a trip there for anyone who happens to get to the Pacific Northwest.


	23. Chapter 23

"What size shoes did the couple who found the body have?" Brennan directed her question at Deputy Taylor who had met them back out at the crime scene.

He let out a soft chuckle and looked at her feeling very much like he'd missed something really important. "Uh, I don't know. Why do you ask?" He had a sinking feeling that he was about to get schooled so bad that he'd wish he could just get sent to the corner with a dunce cap and get it over with.

"There is more than one set of footprints all the way through here where the body was dragged. We need to find out if they belong to the couple or if whomever dumped the body had help." Her tone was impatient. This was Forensics 101 and it was a wonder to her at that moment how Deputy Taylor had managed to graduate from the police academy.

Booth took the lead and got between the Deputy and Bones. "Look, we're going to need to get the shoe size of everyone that's been out here and were going to have to get a digital scan of any shoe that's even close in size to these that any of those people wore." He pointed in the general direction of where Bones was taking photos, presumably of the footprints.

Deputy Taylor pulled a face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright. I'll get on that." It was going to be a long day and he was beginning to think that it was going to be too soon if they ever had another homicide in the islands.

"Collecting the actual shoes would be best." Brennan shouted after him as she continued to take photographs that she intended to send to Angela for further analysis.

"Gotcha." He offered a smile over his shoulder. "I'll let you both know when I've got what you need." Good thing he knew both of the families of the kids that had stumbled across the body, and he was more than certain that both teens would be home given the grounding that they'd probably gotten.

"So you think that Josh had help?" Booth was already trying to think through the questions that he planned on asking Josh Conner when they got back to Anacortes.

"First of all, we don't know for certainty that Josh is the murderer. Secondly, what _I_ think is irrelevant, it's what the evidence suggests that is important." She was definitely in full-fledge squinty mode.

"Fine, Bones." He rolled his eyes. "Do you think that the _murderer_ had help?" As annoying as he could find her need to be as precise as possible it was one of the reasons that they solved so many cases.

"If these are in fact the footprints of the murderer, they yes, I think that they had help." She stood up and looked at him. "If Josh is the murderer, then we need to find out more about him and if he had any friends or associates."

Booth stepped over to where she was standing, careful to not disturb the footprints in case she needed to take more photos or requested a casting of it. "Those are small." He looked a little surprised. "A girl maybe?"

"Given the length of the footprint, I'd say that we're looking for someone approximately 158 centimeters tall." She hardly looked up and the calculations formed effortlessly in her mind as she studied the prints.

"In American please." Math was not his favorite thing and when you threw the curveball of metrics at him it gave him a headache.

"About five feet two inches tall." She reasoned that the prints probably belonged to a woman, or a very small man, but in either case, they needed to let Angela process them so they could make a more accurate evaluation.

"So definitely _not_ Josh Conner then." Their prime suspect was five feet ten inches tall on a good day.

"No. The other set of footprints, on the other hand, could very likely be the correct size to be Josh Conner." Brennan was satisfied that they had collected as much evidence as the site could yield. Hodgins would have to test the soil samples she'd taken for any evidence of blood, but she didn't think that it was likely that Matt Conner had been killed here, but rather dumped.

* * *

As much as Brennan had hoped to be on the last ferry of the day out of Friday Harbor, the evidence hadn't quite cooperated with them.

Deputy Taylor had spent about half of the day gathering up every pair of shoes that the couple who had found what they presumed were Matt Conner's remains and the other half scanning the soles so that they could be sent to the Jeffersonian for evaluation.

Booth had been a bit more happy about the fact that they were going to have to spend another night on the island. Oh, he was still rather anxious to question Josh Conner once they got back to Anacortes, but he knew that the boy was still behind bars and would be there waiting when they got back.

He was just looking forward to some uninterrupted time alone with Bones. Something that had been all but commanded by Angela when she'd told him to make sure that Brennan got out and had a good time during one of several discussions over the webcam throughout the day. Of course, she hadn't known that he had that all under control - she'd find out about this new development when he and Bones were good and ready and he was sure that wouldn't be at least until they'd gotten home.

"I still think that we could have had the ferry held." Brennan wasn't so sure that staying another night was really necessary when they had everything they needed from the island for their investigation, but here they were walking back into their hotel room, not that she wasn't looking forward to being alone with Booth again.

"We'll catch one out in the morning, this way all of the evidence is locked up until then." Booth had already made arrangements to have everything secured once they got to Anacortes so they could question Josh Conner and then Bones could do a preliminary examination before shipping everything back to the Jeffersonian.

"I suppose that's acceptable." She offered him a smile as she shut the door behind them and clicked the lock. While she was very capable of compartmentalizing, if their work was obviously done for the day, she could shift wheels and concentrate on the more pleasurable aspects of being alone with him.

"It is, huh?" His smile widened into a grin and he pulled her into his embrace, feeling a thrill as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss.

"Mmhmm." Now that she was free to kiss Booth anytime she wanted to, it was hard to resist. In fact she'd had difficulty focusing all day and she wondered just how this was going to work once they got back to DC. Her hands began to wander as if they had a will of their own, her fingers pausing at his 'Cocky' belt buckle.

"A little anxious are we?" He wasn't going to complain at all, for the last several hours all he'd been able to think about was the end of the day and being alone with her.

"Not any more anxious than you are." Brennan smirked at him before she leaned in and kissed him again, smiling against his mouth as she felt his arms wrapping around her.

He walked her backwards towards the bed, his lips never leaving hers. They didn't have to be anywhere before seven o'clock in the morning and there was no way in hell they were going to have any more interruptions tonight.

Brennan seemed to agree as she grabbed him firmly by his belt buckle and pulled him with her as she tumbled back onto the bed with a sultry smile on her face.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the infrequent updates. Real life and health issues haven't allowed me to update as often as I would like. I assure you that the rest of the story is mapped out, and I will have the chapters up just as soon as it is humanly possible. Thanks for sticking with me - I appreciate it.


	24. Chapter 24

"Bones, what are you thinking about." Booth's voice was laced with sleep as he reached over and let his fingers trail up and down her back. He could hear her sigh.

"Did I wake you?" Brennan blinked at him thoughtfully in the moonlight. She thought she'd been quiet enough - just laying there in the still of the night contemplating how this wonderful new development between them was going to play out once they got back to DC and resumed their normal routine.

"The gears in your head are working so fast I thought you were going to derail." He let out a soft chuckle - it was sort of true, he knew her well enough to know that at some point she was going to start freaking out. Better here and now than back in DC.

"There aren't any actual gears in my head." She knew that he meant that she was thinking too hard, but what did he expect, thinking was what she did best - she was the brain person after all.

"Well I can hear you thinking, okay." He let out a sigh and reached for her hand, letting his fingers twine with hers. "Are you having second thoughts?" He hoped that the answer was no - he didn't want her second guessing things now, not after they'd crossed a line that the couldn't pretend that hadn't been crossed. This wasn't a contrived kiss under mistletoe that they could reason away.

There was a slight panic in her tone. "Are you?" She had opened herself up and confessed that she loved him - surely he wouldn't just take advantage of her like this - he was Booth, he couldn't do something like that. Could he?

Booth's voice wavered slightly. "No! Hell no, no doubts here." He took a few deep breaths and collected himself and gave her hand a squeeze. "I love you, Bones. I have no doubts. None. Nada."

"Good." Her relief was evident as she found his eyes in the moonlight. "No second thoughts. Just thoughts." She inched closer to him until she could feel him breathing. "How is this going to work?"

"It just will. We'll figure things out one step at a time." His heart was beating faster. They _would_ find a way to make all of this work or he would die trying.

"What about Parker?" She knew that Parker was the most important person in his life and while being accepted as Booth's friend was one thing, being accepted as Booth's romantic partner was entirely another. She had never dated someone before who had a child. If Parker decided that he hated the idea of his father dating her, would Booth be obligated to break up with her? She didn't know what the rules were in a scenario like this.

His smile was evident in his voice. "Parker loves you, Bones. Why would you be worried about what he thinks?" If she only knew how much his boy looked up to her she wouldn't doubt for a second that he was going to be thrilled. Maybe someday far into the future, he'd tell her how long Parker had been asking him if Bones was his girlfriend.

"He's important to you." Her heart beat a bit more rapidly as a little doubt started to creep back in. "I would presume that if he didn't approve, that you would have difficulty remaining in a romantic relationship with me."

Booth leaned in a softly kissed her. "Parker loves you. I love you. You don't need to worry about it." He only hoped that was the biggest of her worries.

"What about our partnership?" That was a real worry - there was nothing clear cut that prohibited them from seeing each other, but then again, their partnership was completely unusual and maybe their future of working together would be jeopardized by their romantic entanglement.

"We have a very successful partnership." His tone was serious. "I can't say that I know exactly what's going to happen, I'll have to let Hacker know, but I don't see any reason why we can't keep working together - there aren't any official rules prohibiting it."

"What about unofficial rules?" She wanted to address every rational reason that could disrupt what they'd finally found. If she could reason away all of her doubts then she would have nothing left to be anxious about.

"I'm sure if we agree to meet with Sweets to make sure that our relationship doesn't cloud our professional judgement then we've got our bases covered." What he really wanted to do was make love to her again so that she'd realize that they had something special and that it wasn't going to come as a big shock to anyone that they were finally together.

"You make a good point." She could deal with Sweets and his psychological mumbo jumbo if it meant that she could work with Booth and still date him. She leaned in and softly kissed him - this was nice and she really didn't want to have to give it up.

"Angela is going to have a field day." Booth mumbled against her mouth. In fact he was certain that _all_ of the squints were going to have a field day filled with phrases like _I told you so _and_ It's about time,_ not to mention the shrill piercing squeals that might just render half of the canine population temporarily deaf.

"She _has_ been telling me for years that I should go after you." Brennan chuckled softly.

"So she's going to be thrilled." Booth sounded pretty pleased himself.

"Of course she is." Her earlier fears seemed to be subsiding and she snuggled into him, taking comfort from the feel of his body against hers.

"She's going to tell you that you're one lucky woman snagging a catch like me." His ego was definitely not lacking.

"And she'll tell you that if you break my heart she'll kick your ass." Not that Angela was at all skilled in martial arts, but she would certainly make Booth think that the intent was there.

Booth laughed. "She's more likely to try and set up a secret webcam to make sure we're really doing it." And now that the thought had occurred to him, he was going to make sure to do a sweep of both of their apartments for any hidden cameras or listening devices.

"She's just going to have to trust me that we are in fact _doing it_." Even then it still sounded like she'd said the word _intercourse_.

"You're not going to give her a blow by blow are you? That's almost as bad as if she actually had a webcam." Booth really didn't want the details of his lovemaking with Bones to become fodder for discussion around the lab. The last thing he needed was for her to share that they hadn't quite done it as well as some other time. He was a man - he had his pride, not to mention his dignity that he wanted to keep intact.

"Don't worry." She kissed him softly - reassuringly. "She's not getting details." A smile flickered across her face. "What's between us is ours." She knew that Booth valued his privacy and this thing with him was like nothing that she'd ever had with anyone else. She felt something with him that she couldn't quantify with science, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was still real.

"Yeah." His voice was a soft whisper. "It's ours." He felt his heart swelling with emotion at this woman who had so fully captured his heart without even trying. He leaned in and kissed her, his hands slipping slowly down her back.

"We're not going to get much sleep are we?" Her tone held an impish quality to it and she found her own hands wandering.

"I don't think so." He most certainly wasn't going to complain about a little missed sleep when it meant that he could show Bones just how much he loved her.

"Just as long as we get coffee in the morning." She mumbled against his mouth as he rolled her onto her back. "Because we still have a case to solve."

He pinned her to the mattress and smiled as his mouth hovered just above hers. "No squinty-talk in bed. The only talk I want to hear is how much you want me." If her hand on his ass was any indication, she wanted him pretty damn bad.

"I do want you." She had a soft inflection in her tone. "And I know you want me." She leaned up and pressed her lips against his, breathing out softly as she did. "This is ours."


	25. Chapter 25

Booth had his best FBI face on as he walked into the room that the Anacortes Police Department had provided to him to interrogate Josh Conner. He knew that Bones was standing behind the two-way mirror and for some reason that just made him want to be that much more of a bad ass. The scraping sound the chair made against the floor as he pulled it out caused Josh to jump. A tiny smile flickered across Booth's face for a fraction of a second before it seemed to set in a stony glare again. "We found your brother's body." He could almost hear Bones saying that they hadn't made a positive identification quite yet and he was glad he'd made her stay outside.

"Matt's dead." The color seemed to drain out of Josh's face, but it didn't appear to be from surprise.

Booth leaned forward. "You knew that your brother was dead because you killed him the same way you killed Natalie Chilukuri." He slid a photograph of the speargun that they knew had killed Natalie. It hadn't yet been confirmed to be what had killed Matt.

Josh shook his head earnestly. "I didn't kill him. I didn't kill her. I didn't kill anyone." He looked like he was thinking about how in the world he was going to get himself out of this whole big fat mess.

Booth narrowed his gaze. "We know that you had help." He wasn't about to say that they didn't have any idea who that was, but right now, he was holding all of the cards. Besides two counts of murder, Josh was looking at a lot of time behind bars for international drug trafficking. Thing is, he probably wasn't the big fish, but it had still been a significant bust.

Josh's eyes widened.

"What? Natalie said no, so you killed her and when Matt walked in you killed him too?" Booth was just throwing out theories to see what kind of rise he was going to get out of him. "Or maybe they found out about the drugs and you killed them both to shut them up." He leaned back in his chair looking very much in control. "Either way, you're looking at spending the rest of your life behind bars, if you don't get the death penalty that is."

"I told you, I didn't kill anyone." There was a hint of panic in Josh's voice. "It was Aimee. I didn't do anything, I mean I might have helped get rid of them because she told me that she wasn't going to put herself at risk just because Matt and Nat didn't want to run the bud. She was going to kill me too if I didn't help her."

"Aimee Reynolds? Natalie's roommate?" Booth would never have picked her as a suspect in a million years.

"Yeah. She had me by the balls man. I owed a ton of money from gambling and she said if I helped her get the bud onto Matt's boat and run it down from Canada a couple of times that she'd give me part of her cut and I could pay off what I owed. I had no idea that it was a family business for her." Josh scoffed out a bitter laugh and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. "I thought she was cute and I just wanted to go on a couple of dates. I didn't know that she would turn my life into a living hell. I loved my brother."

Booth considered his words for a moment and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If the evidence bears out your story, the federal prosecutor may want to cut a deal with you. But if you're lying to me, you better get used to that jumpsuit." And with that, Booth got up and and walked out of the interrogation room.

* * *

"She certainly could have done it." Booth acknowledged as he and Bones drove north towards Bellingham. While he had been coordinating with D.E.A., Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and the Royal Canadian Mounties, she had been preparing the remains and other evidence that they had collected for shipment to the Jeffersonian.

"Just because she was the best on her archery team doesn't necessarily mean that she was the one who killed them, although it could logically make her a prime suspect." Always the rationalist, Brennan didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Josh's story about the drug smuggling seems to check out though. D.E.A. says they've had their eyes on the Reynolds for some time. It's certainly enough to bring her in for questioning." There was a satisfied smirk on his face. He hated this whole case, but he was certainly looking forward to getting it wrapped up and all of the bad guys behind bars, even if one of those bad guys was a normal looking twenty-something college student.

* * *

"Agent Booth." Aimee Reynolds looked a bit surprised to see the FBI agent and his partner. Boxes in various stages of packing were scattered all over the apartment.

"Are you moving?" Brennan raised an eyebrow and looked at the young woman curiously. It seemed to her that it was a good thing that Booth had arranged for backup to meet them at the apartment.

"Yes. I just can't stay here with Nat's stuff. I've been packing it up to take up to her parents this weekend, and then I was going to move to my own place. There are too many memories here." She seemed a bit impatient.

"In Canada?" Booth just wanted to clarify exactly where she was going.

"Yes. Abbotsford, it's right outside of Vancouver." She looked at the agent a bit oddly since she knew that he knew that Nat was Canadian.

"You were on an archery team weren't you?" Brennan queried as she noticed equipment lying out as if it had been used recently.

"Yes, I was first in my division in high school, and I try and keep up practice." She let out a sigh. "Is there something else I can do for you? I'm kind of trying to get everything packed up, the landlord told me that she'd give me back my entire deposit if I could move out early."

Booth had a grim look on his face. "We found Matt Conner's body and we've got his brother Josh in custody."

All of the color drained out of her face. "Did he kill them?"

"He said you did." Brennan was nothing if not brutally honest.

"What?" She looked as if she was going to pass out and then she made a quick glance to the corner where her archery equipment sat.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Aimee." Booth delivered a grin that could disarm a nuclear warhead that almost detracted from the fact that he had one hand on his gun.

"It was his idea. It's not my fault if Matt and Nat found out about it." She was clearly trying to cover whatever tracks she could, but she seemed to only be digging herself in deeper.

Booth grabbed his cuffs and quickly grabbed her. "Aimee Reynolds, you're under arrest for the murders of Matt Conner and Natalie Chilukuri and a bunch of other stuff." He would Mirandize her on the way to the waiting FBI cruiser outside just to cover his bases.

"He set me up." The fact that she wasn't denying her involvement screamed volumes.

"You have the right to remain silent." Booth was only mildly amused that although he was clearly giving her Miranda rights she was singing like a proverbial canary all the way to the squad car.

"She doesn't seem to want to remain silent." Brennan smirked as Booth shut the door of the car and glanced over at her.

The other agent that had met them there was just shaking his head in amusement. "Was that a confession, because that sure as hell sounded like a confession."

"She was pretty vocal about all of the things she wasn't responsible for that we hadn't even told her about." Booth realized with a smile that this case was really almost over. A few more details and it seemed that they could hand it off to the local feds and they could head back to DC.

"A slap dunk." Brennan's enthusiasm mirrored Booth's.

"That's slam dunk, not slap dunk, Bones." He smirked and his hand found the small of her back as they walked towards the SUV and the other car drove off with their prime suspect in custody.

"Looks like this one is almost done." She looked into his eyes with admiration as they climbed into the SUV.

"We make a really good team." He smiled as he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss and then settled in behind the wheel. "Looks like we're heading home."

"A very good team." She offered him a smile of her own realizing just how much had changed between them since they'd left DC for this case. Yes, she was definitely looking forward to getting home and letting all of this be part of their normal everyday lives.


	26. Chapter 26

"So that's it then. We're done out here." Brennan wasn't sure is she was relieved or nervous about the fact that the field portion of their case was essentially done other than probably having to come back out to testify when it went to court. Now that it was over they were going back to DC and as excited as she was about the change in their relationship, she wasn't quite sure what it would mean to their partnership when they got back.

"Yes." Booth's grin widened as he looked at her. "And we did good, Bones." They had tracked down the killer of two innocent people, busted up an international drug ring, and finally stepped past all of the denial they'd both been clinging to. They had definitely done better than good this time.

"We did, didn't we?" She reflected his grin and then leaned in towards him and let him envelope her in his arms. This was nice, perfect actually. If arms could have been made to hold her, then his were - if that were possible, or rational, or logical. She was happy and apparently feeling completely irrational and she didn't care.

He kissed the top of her head as the airport loudspeaker announced their flight. The red-eye flight was full and he was definitely looking forward to all of that extra legroom in First Class - dating a world class forensic anthropologist and New York Times best selling author certainly had its advantages - advantages that apparently his FBI badge and the travel office couldn't afford him on such short notice. And he was definitely looking forward to snuggling with Bones all the way across the country - not exactly the mile-high club, but at least he wouldn't have to arrest himself.

* * *

"Do you think that we'll beat the remains to the Jeffersonian?" After a relatively restful flight, save for a somewhat discreet make-out session with Booth, she was ready to work. They did need to do an official confirmation that their victim was in fact Matt Conner, not to mention that all of the samples she had gathered needed to be processed.

"We haven't even gotten to the car yet, Bones." He would have been more amused if he didn't know that once she got to the lab, she would probably have to be pried away from it to eat and sleep until she was satisfied that she was done. So much for his hope that they could enjoy this newfound couple-hood in DC for an hour or two before they made an appearance at the Jeffersonian.

"Because if we are, we could probably stop for coffee." She had a smirk playing at her lips as she noticed Booth stop in his tracks and turn to look at her fully. His lips were on hers in an instant and she let her bag drop to the ground as she let him pull her into his embrace.

"Love you, Bones." He whispered against her mouth before he pulled away. If she wanted coffee, then they were going to stop and get coffee.

* * *

"I thought you wanted coffee." He certainly wasn't complaining. They had stopped at her apartment under the guise of dropping off her bags and changing clothes before they went to get coffee on the way to the Jeffersonian. Instead, the second the door closed behind them, they'd made a beeline to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake.

"I wanted you more." She smirked at him rather satisfied as she glanced at the clock. If they hurried, they'd still have time for coffee and they might beat the remains there yet. She anticipated that it was going to be a long day and she was glad that they had stolen this little bit of time before they resumed their regular routine.

Booth let out a laugh and gathered her in his arms, leaning in to kiss her soundly. He could certainly get used to this. "I wanted you all the way across the country." He kissed her again. He was in absolutely no hurry to get to his office and start on the mountain of paperwork he was going to need to deal with, especially with all of the jurisdictional crossover on this case, but the sooner he dealt with it, the sooner he and Bones could tuck themselves away like this again.

Brennan kissed him softly and then pulled away with a smile. "I really need to go attend to the remains." If anyone understood the demands of her job, Booth did. She didn't have to apologize or worry that he might break up with her because she worked too much. They were partners, in work and life and she was happy.

"I know." He smiled back. This was going to work. They were going to work. They could work together and be together. Nothing was going to put a damper on how damn happy he was just then.

* * *

"Did Dr. Brennan provide any details on when her and Booth's flight was getting in?" Cam knew from the text message she'd received that more remains were due to arrive any minute and that sometime this morning the dynamic duo was going to be back.

"Knowing Brennan they'll probably come directly here from the airport." The roll in Angela's eyes was evident in her tone. She was disappointed. Just how many trips out into the field did Bren have to take before she and Booth chucked their denial out the window and finally admitted that they were in love. Everyone else could see it, why couldn't they? For investigators, they were seriously deficient when it came to their own reality.

Cam let out a soft chuckle. "You're probably right."

As if on cue, Brennan walked purposefully into the lab with Booth right beside her and they seemed to be right in the middle of bickering about something that she couldn't quite make out. She scoffed and shook her head as she glanced at Cam. "Well some things never change."

"Was that Dr. B and Booth?" Hodgins walked up onto the forensic platform where the other two were standing. He'd just gotten word that samples galore were on their way in along with some remains.

"Yep, and as usual, they're arguing about something." Angela shook her head again. "Is it too much to ask that one of these days they wake up and jump each other?" It was almost more than she could take. Her own love life wasn't exactly in stellar shape at the moment, the least she could do was live vicariously through her best friend and said best friend wasn't cooperating.

"Just not in the lab." Cam did not need a repeat of having to whisk away security tapes like she'd had to do with the pair sharing the platform with her.

"As long as it happens somewhere." Angela muttered under her breath as she watched the pair in question set coffee cups down on the desk.

What happened next no one expected to see just then.

Right there in the middle of her office for God and everyone to see, Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth seemed to be pulled together by some mysterious magnetic force into one of the most jaw dropping kisses Angela Montenegro had ever witnessed. If she let out a squeal, it was completely silent - she just stood there with her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"It's about time, Seeley." Cam was smiling as she muttered under her breath and watched the pair.

"Way to go, Dr. B." Hodgins seemed pleased as well, but Angela seemed to be speechless.

Booth barely glanced up as he walked right out Brennan's office and right out of the lab.

Angela finally found her words as the FBI agent walked out of sight. "Did that really happen?"

"Oh, yeah." Hodgins smiled.

"We've got work, people." Cam knew that the whole story would come out later, but knowing Dr. Brennan and Booth, they'd share when they were good and ready and not a moment before.

_**The End**_

**Author's Note:** I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.


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